Prologue

Dear Diary,

Please, tell me what is wrong with this world. No, not it's flaws, but rather what forced it to have them. Tell me why this country, my country, is led by heartless, cruel, and malicious people. Tell me why Isaac Mansford is still alive after everything he's put our country through. I think without him, the Quill would be a better form of leadership. I say we just behead him and feed his remains to the xunn in the mountains, in respect we'd be following his own normalities. Then again maybe that wouldn't be the best idea, after all his methods are exactly what I wish to diminish.

Tell me how it's possible for people to be so hated and awful, yet so widely accepted. I mean, they even named the royal village Mansford. He doesn't contribute anything useful. He's evil. I just don't understand. They say it's necessary, they say we need the Quill and Mansford. But do we really? All they are is a group of imbeciles telling us what to do. Are the decisions they make really guided by any moral standards? At all?

You know, I think my mother's golden hair has faded to gray as a result of the decisions our supposed leaders are making. She can hardly catch a breath between every mistake they make. It's driving Delahonte closer and closer to its demise, who knows what will happen when it does. I can't even imagine how Ander is handling this.... Ander..

It's been awhile since I've written about him.. Well, Awhile since I've written at all. But don't you worry, I haven't forgotten my little journal. And I certainly will never forget him. I still remember all of our laughs, our stories, the memories. We had the world in our hands. We were young, but we were also in love. That is something most say is impossible. How could someone so young really be in love? Truth is, love knows no age. It knows no limits, nor end.

It's been a while, my dear little diary. Would you like some memories?

His name was Anderson, but we all called him Ander for short. To me, Ander was the most handsome boy in our tiny hometown called Humes. For me, it was easy to fall for him. You see, Ander was smart, funny, charming for a thirteen year old, surely. I, on the other hand, was not only unappealing to the eye, but also quite awkward. I know, hard to believe right? But I must remind you, diary, you only get the intelligent controlled side of me so understand that what you see on paper is not what you will see in flesh. But you know, he somehow managed to fall for me as well. One day, when I was just twelve years old, he and I were walking in the woodland that separated the villages. I remember staring at him, feeling as though I was the only girl in the world that could be this lucky. His pale brown and pin straight hair was just long enough to fall into his gorgeous emerald eyes, he was laughing and going on about his latest adventure with his friends. We were never happier. We told each other everything, and somehow never had to worry if the other was off with some other lover. Well, you don't know to worry about those things at such a young age, I suppose. Funny how things change, huh?

 As the years went on we were still together, our love was always strong. We were partners in crime almost literally, we were in every training together when learning of the ancient language, learning of the Quill's standards, and leadership training. The only thing we weren't together for were the several weeks of battle camp.  One day, something changed, we had both gone to a training camp each year, different locations depending on age and skill, until the final base. If someone is accepted into the final base they are considered the best of the best fighters. For the final base, warriors could be chosen during years four, five, or six. But year fours rarely get chosen due to their lack of experience and skill. There are only six years total to prove you are a worthy soldier.  Camps start the year you turn thirteen, and your last is the year you turn eighteen. The final base is not a base that everyone goes to. Only potential army leaders are sent there, the twelve warriors selected each year are the best fighters that any camps have to offer. Fighters who have lost no more the five sparring matches. The only catch is, in the final base most of the twelve chosen will die, there have been years where all of them died. Is it worth it?

It was my second year of camp, his third, a week before I had to depart when the incident happened. You see, the smallest of errors can alter the course of your entire future. It only takes a little tug of a horse's reins to get the animal to change into an entirely different speed or direction. I guess you can say that's what happened with us. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't save my relationship. He hated me, and I will never understand why. I'm not sure I'll ever know what I did. 

After leaving for training and writing letters to Ander with not a single reply, I knew it was too late.  That year going back to camp, I would remember all the moves and stories Ander had told me about fighting. I practiced even away from camp for him, I wanted so badly to impress him. I figured one day, we would come face to face again. I'd have to show him what he had made of me. From that point on, all of my anger and brokenness channeled into my fighting. I was undefeated at that camp. After my fifteenth birthday, camp started to be old news for me. I began to purposely lose fights in hopes of being removed, but for nothing it seemed. They somehow knew that it was just me trying to get out. I had no friends, so I hadn't told anyone. But somehow they knew.

They started to push me beyond what I had thought were my limits. Forcing me to strive to be a malicious fighter. They focused on me more than any of the other kids. I didn't know why, even though part of me could offer a reason. No one knew my secret, therefore no one knew what I had to lose. Why would they push me?

Diary, I think you are finally starting to understand. Life in this world is no joy ride. Not yet anyway.

Sincerely,

Beth

Chapter One

Beth felt a hand on her shoulder, waking her from her deep sleep. She struggled to open her eyes, the corners of her mouth curled upward.

"Good morning, Bethie." Ani Donoway whispered to her.

"Hi." Beth yawned with a stretch of her limbs, observing her mother's turquoise gown.

"You don't like it?"

"I like it, but I haven't seen you wear it in ages."

"Well, today is a special day," She said adjusting the silver necklace upon her slender neck. "This is the day my little girl grows into a woman. Someday you will do things never done by a woman in this kingdom, and soon you will be a lady of the country and you will be the change our country has been waiting to see. This is a special occasion, dear."

Beth and her mother were more of friends than mother and daughter, in Delahonte, it was unusual for children to be close to their parents at all. But Ani and Beth were different than the others. When Beth was a young girl, her mother didn't send her out with the nursemaid every day like the other women did, she instead took her child to training, and let her be an independent spirit. Not raised to be the prim, proper, image driven females of the kingdom.

"You think very highly of me, mother."

"You give me reasons to do so, now get prepared, we will leave soon."

 

Beth recalled how much the camps had once meant to her as she brushed her long blonde hair from her face. She had always been thrilled to pack her bags and pursue the ability to learn maneuvers that she could show to Ander when they had returned home. She had loved the jokingly appalled look on his face when he acted as though she was actually beating him, and how he would share how to observe an opponent and in turn defeat them. She had surrendered to letting herself believe that the reason for her success was Ander. Or maybe he was just the reason for her new inability to focus. She had finished brushing her hair when she heard a knock on the door to her bedroom.

"It's not locked."  As if on cue, the decorated wooden door swung open.

"Happy Birthday, Beth!" Emylee yelled in an unnatural voice as she launched into Beth's bedroom. Her best and only friend. Emylee was with her during the good times and the not so good times.

"Hey, I thought you weren't coming." She waltzed to Emylee and wrapped her arms around her.

"I told Jak to find another time we could go. The ball isn't going away, and I couldn't dare miss your birthday or saying goodbye."

"Well, I suppose that makes you a good friend."  Beth said, a smile forming on her face.

"Hey, control yourself hot shot, there's no need to get all mushy on me. It's your sixteenth birthday, it's my duty to be a good friend. Even to a monster like you." She laughed with a wink.

"I do have a heart, you know. Disguised as it may be."

"A heart? Oh, that is definitely news to me." The girls laughed.  Emylee looked at her hands, eyes flickering with what looked like pain.  "Are you nervous?"

"No, I have to switch to a new base whether I put in the effort or not. So, I might as well show them what I've got."

"Beth, what you do there, it's dangerous. You know the outcome. Either you die, or you become a part of the military leader people, I don't know what they are actually called. But, you are definitely not going to year five or six, you're the best female fighter Humes has ever seen. One of the only females at all. Everyone knows that, they'd be stupid not to choose you. It's so dangerous. There are people that are going to make it their personal mission to kill you."

"That's kind of the point, Em. Either people aren't eligible because of their birth, or they aren't qualified physically, or just not going to step up, and much like you, everyone is afraid. Someone has to be prepared if there is another war. Plus, I will always have someone trying to kill me, even if I'm not out there."

"Can you just be careful?"

"I'm always careful, you know that. I'm not new to this, I've been working at it my entire life. If I can survive my father, I can handle anything out there. Trust me." The door opened again, Beth's mother appeared holding a silver spoon with peanut butter followed by Willow, the family dog.

"Hi, Emylee," She shifted her eyes to Beth, "It's time, peach."

Beth stashed her final items into her bag, and giving Emylee one last smirk, she walked out the door.

*~*

When Beth reached the exam room, her heart began to beat out her chest so fast it was as though she had just been running for hundreds of miles. For so long she'd been buried deep within the boundaries of her comfort zone, and now, on her sixteenth birthday all of that would change. The man guiding her asked her to stand in front of a shiny silver door,

"You will be given only a flashlight, the first part of your exam will be to test you on your instincts and general intelligence in low-stress situations, however there will be no battle. You will need to avoid being caught by a group of watchmen and turn on the power generator once you have successfully located it. Once you activate the generator, you will be delivered back to this location for further instruction. There will be absolutely no violence to avoid capture and no combat in this round. Do you have any questions?"

"No."

"Good luck." The rustic man pressed a button on his tablet and a voice expelling from an overhead intercom counted down from three. When the robotic voice got to one, a sliding plate in the wall opened, displaying a flashlight held in a display made of glass. Taking the flashlight in her hand, Beth quickly shuffled into the room, closing the door behind her to avoid light being let in. In the darkness of the room, she found it difficult to decipher any shapes, however she felt as though using the flashlight wasn't wise. She knelt down and touched the ground. Grass. Aerilde simulation, oh what a pleasant surprise, she smiled through her thoughts. Beth remembered her first Aerilde, she was in her second year of camp, it had forced her to choose between Ander and herself. The Aerilde's system operates to control thoughts and alter one's senses to force them to believe in the circumstances by seeing and feeling them.

She closed her eyes and listened for any footsteps. To her left, she could hear footsteps, silence from all other directions. She sauntered forward cautiously, slightly crouched to prevent being seen. Her eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, around her were many bushes and trees. They were slightly overgrown which was awfully peculiar, yet realistic. The footsteps grew louder and faster, and she could see a flashlight in the distance. Beth stealthily ran to a nearby tree, leaping to grasp the lowest branch and hoisting herself up with feline grace, from that low branch she climbed high enough to avoid detection. She looked down upon the watchman, whom had stopped to look around, then continued to run in search of her. She hopped down from the tree limb and rolled into a sprint in the direction from which he came.

Once she got to the grove of bushes he had come through, she crouched down and listened for the buzzing of the generator, and heard the faint noise coming from the direction the watchman had come from. She slowly approached the area in which she heard the buzzing. There it was, guarded by a single watchman. She observed him as he surveyed the area. Beth felt the ground around her for debris to use as a distraction. Nothing, not a single stick or stone. She checked her pockets, bingo. She took the flashlight from her pocket and threw it as far as she could from the generator. As planned, the gullible watchman sprinted in the direction of the decoy. Beth ran to the generator and flipped the switch disabling the simulation, leaving revealing a bright grey room.

"Please exit." The intercom repeated three times. Beth moved to the door out of which she had entered to find the same middle-age man accompanied by familiar a woman in business attire.

"Ellyzibeth, dear, you never cease to amaze us." The woman said flashing a smile at Beth.

"Maybe you should upgrade your system instead of stalking me, that was pathetic, Laila." The olive-skinned woman raised an accusing brow to Beth. 

"Maybe you should respect those who are deciding your future, miss."

"As if." Beth scoffed, after all it was her spunk they seemed to admire, "And I told you never to call me Ellyzibeth."

"Now, if you will follow me." The man began to walk and as Beth did, Laila followed. "You're next exam will be to test your fighting capabilities, you will have five minutes to defeat your opponent using only one of the weapons offered to you. The rules, however, state that you may enter empty handed and disarm your opponent which most figure you will do. I, as strongly noted as you may take, do not suggest it."

"No offense, but I don't care for suggestions given to me by people like you."

"Very well, do you have any questions?" He asked.

"Why would I?" she sighed slightly agitated at the repeated question. 

"Good luck." Beth entered the room empty handed, making it a point to do exactly as the man had said not to do. The room was all white and the floor was matted, making it easier on her body to jump. A boy came out, Beth thought him to be about her age, if not older. He bore a long wooden pole, and walked around her in a circle as if she were his prey.

Now, you always want to wait on your opponents first move, see their routine. If not you've given yourself away and you can almost always count on losing. Do not forget your follow through. She heard Ander's voice say in her head. She closed her eyes, gaining her focus to put the best effort possible into this fight. As she opened her eyes, the boy got into a battle position that she could not seem to recognize. He stepped forward swinging his weapon at Beth. She watched his movements, he did this two more times each displaying a different move with the wooden pole. The next step he took, Beth rolled to the left and dodged his strike. He turned to her and lunged forward, a look and sense of confusion fused with anger rushed over him. It was such a strong emotion that she could feel it as if it were radiating off of his body in large beams. She had the notion this boy had not been outsmarted often. Beth, with a taunting glare, used his cocky mentality to her own advantage, she started to mock him with facial expressions and over exaggerated body language.

Might as well make this fun for myself, Beth thought. The boy was outraged by her despicable behavior, she herself was annoyed by her own absurd level of immaturity, but she didn't mind at all if it meant being in the Twelve. Suddenly, he was increasing his fluidity and speed, he went for a wide swing at her head. Being so small she was able to roll between his legs and kicked him in the back, he had finally made his mistake. He spun around, stepping first before he tried to strike her, as the pole barely missed her head he started to prepare for more moves. Beth leaped into the air kicking the stick from his hands.

As the weapon flew, the boy's eyes remained after it, Beth swept his legs out from under him with her own and cracked her right arm across his shoulders, knocking him out. Behind her, the door once again opened, and there stood Laila, clapping as much as possible, like usual. Beth had quit her team at base when she was fourteen, and from that day forward Laila was in an ever to persistent battle to get her back. She hadn't missed a single one of her evaluations since that day. Odd to the world, supportive in her mind. The man stood in front of her, staring at his tablet. Beth walked to them calmly, and the man looked up from his device.

"Well done, your final exam will be simple target practice with throwing knives and a traditional curve bow. No aiming at humans. Any-"

"Still no."

"Good luck." She found it awfully annoying that the end to all of her exchanges with the peculiar man were the same, but in the end she supposed it didn't matter much. Beth made her way into the room which was split into three compartments for three exam sessions to occupy. Each of the compartments were separated by tinted doubled glass. To her left, Beth saw a table that held each of the weapons. She decided to start with the knives, most kids her age had never even held a weapon like this, and she handled them as though they were toys. Beth held and inspected the blades, aiming and throwing at each target, some closer to the bulls-eye than others. After finishing her last throw, Beth took out the bow and quiver of arrows, her usual weapon of choice. With that bow she was allowed a total of 25 arrows and lodged all but three perfectly within the bulls-eye.

"Congratulations, miss Donoway, you have completed all three rounds of exams with a near perfect score. You will be placed in Battle Base A1, eleven of our most experienced students will accompany you and be gifted with the title, until circumstance should change, The Twelve. The Twelve will be the young leaders of all troops. But few, if any, will survive. Be prepared for what you will face, young lady. As we have seen, you have previously viewed this all as a waste of time, these others who will be with you at your camp have been working at this without room for error. Do not get yourself killed, dear. Good luck." The woman said over the intercom. Suddenly a door opened, two men entered and escorted Beth from the room, taking her to a bus. Her belongings were already loaded as if they knew where she would be placed all along.

The bus was cold, dimly lit, and had a musty smell to it. The smell reminded her of moth balls, the ones she'd find hidden in the clothes she had stored in the attic when they went out of season. Although the bus seemed clean from the seat she had chosen, she wasn't about to go searching for the source of the smell. She took a glance of the driver, a middle-aged man wearing a captains hat and suit. His suit had strange decorations setting on the chest and shoulder regions. She was unsure what they meant, probably some indicator of rank and status from whatever bus driving troop he was a part of. Beth looked at the man a long second before deciding that he was likely the source of the smell. The bus started to move beneath her making the most unforgiving noises.

This thing might just fall apart beneath me, I might die before I even go to war.  Beth thought to herself as she wondered how long it had been since this bus had been used last. Beth had always wanted to be apart of the troop, they had extraordinary histories. However, the last group wasn't fated to be. They had been assigned to a mission outside of the country when an enemy team ambushed them and killed them all.

It had been all over the papers and the Quill Santione for weeks, the remaining troops were still trying to figure out the details of what had happened that day. All anyone really knew was that they had died. The Quill had never gotten enough of the children like Beth, the idea of young people leading the nation was the best idea the country had ever come up with according to them. Letting young people like Beth and the other hand-selected members of the Twelve lead gave the adults and more seasoned troops the ability to train more younger people with the same possibility of leading one day.

Beth could feel her eyes growing heavy, she knew that base was still hours, maybe even days away. She looked out the window at the blue sky staring back at her and wondered why the world looked so beautiful. There was so much wrong with the world and yet it had never looked better. Beth slowly closed her eyes, peacefully letting the roars of the ancient bus lull her to sleep.

*~*

Beth grabbed her bags from the bus driver who gave her a solemn nod and carried on back into the bus driving off into the distance. She had slept nearly entire way, spare for the times she had to use the restroom and stops for food in small village markets. Being that she was the only one on that entire bus other than the decorated driver, it was a quiet and spontaneous drive. As she wandered away from the bus, a dark woman in black attire approached Beth.

"I hope I've been dropped at the right place, unfortunately I can't tell because this looks an awful lot like a summer camp brochure I saw at the Quill center once."

"While I can't promise activities you more than likely saw in that brochure, I can promise that this will be something to behold. Hello, I'm Lewisse, you must be Beth."

"Ah, finally! Someone actually gets my name right."

"Come with me, I will show you to your cabin." Before Beth could reply, she started walking. She gathered her belongings and followed Lewisse into a six bunk cabin that was adjacent to a duplicated version. Down a wide, open path, there was a large building with a sign labeled 'Commons Building' with a stable across the path and garden to the right of it. Beth quietly made her way into the bunker where four boys and a girl were already claiming beds. Lewisse stopped before leaving the cabin and turned to Beth.

"I hope you make the best of it, I will not be staying as I have business with the Quill this evening. Good luck, dear." Beth swallowed as the word left the woman's mouth, and waved the her off. The Quill. The group that led her country alongside their king, Beth had always despised them. Half of the things in the country were named after them, and yet hearing the word from the woman's mouth said regarding the actual group made her blood go cold.

"Beth?"

"Noeh!" Beth beamed a smile and ran to the toned teenage boy standing in front of a set of bunks, hugging him as the others stared at them in confusion.

"I haven't seen you in, what, two years? You've obviously done well enough!"

"Same to you. You must've really stepped it up." Beth teased, and wondered what had happened to allow two year fours in the base, that was unheard of in Delahonte.

"Yeah, once I started beating you."

"Yeah right!" Beth narrowed her eyes in banter at her friend.

"Okay, stop with- whatever it is that you are doing. Go outside if your going to behave like children." A girl dressed in clothing too fancy for war snarled, gesturing to the door and playing with her short brown hair. Beth couldn't decide whether her accent was that of the Kravinoff tongue or of the Silvertooth. Maybe even fake. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry, are we disturbing you? Would you like us to leave you in the silent, comforting peace of the knowledge that we all may be dead tomorrow?" Beth asked, progressively becoming more angry.

"Yes. Now out you go, your voice annoys me." The girl paused, "Oh, and your hair appears as though it may have a rat nesting in it." She looked at Beth as if she were an animal.

"I'm sure you have plenty of knowledge on rats." Beth snapped at her tensing her muscles, the last time someone talked like that to her- Well, he got what he deserved to say the least. "And your accent sounds fake as-"

"Beth, you don't want to do that here." Noeh whispered calmly to her, her shoulders relaxed as she took a deep breath. The girl laughed.

"What? Are you going to mutate into xunn or something?" She made a face mocking that of the cave dwelling creatures in the mountains.

"Monsters are a joke compared to what I'll turn into if you say another word." Beth said lowering her voice and balling her hands to control herself.

"The only thing that could be afraid of a thing like you is a rat, but wait-" The girl drew her teeth back pointing towards her hair. Beth raised her fist to swing at her, but before she could make precious contact with her face, Noeh grabbed her and dragged her out of the cabin.

"I hope she's first to die." She uttered bitterly.

"And you ma'am have not changed a bit." Beth shook herself from his strong unforgiving grip.

"I'm aware." There was a long pause before Noeh spoke. 

"Beth, how are you?" He looked worried, as he recalled how angry Beth was that year they were partners.

"I'm fine, I'll be fine."

"Good, why don't you go down to the Commons and get some Quillrons. I saw that they had your favorite when I was down there before you arrived. I'll go in and talk to Melina."

"Good luck. Quill, save her pathetic, incompetent, soul-less self."

"You are just a pleasant little flower, aren't you? So. Pleasant." He teased.

"Shut up."

 

Beth wandered her way down the path to the Commons building, noticing a large wooded area behind it. She searched around, assuming not everyone was there because the other cabin was empty. She traipsed through the woods and explored for a while. She could remember when she was young, how a tradition her and Ander shared was to find a wooded area and locate a stream or pond in or around it during the time of a holiday. That tradition had continued for Beth, he was always a part of her mind. It was part of the reason Beth had turned so cold once he left. While walking through the woods, she saw many animals such as birds, snakes, foxes. But, they didn't hide. 

She had read once that in the Kravinoff Islands, the native animals do the same thing because they aren't hunted. It made Beth wonder where she was. On the ground, she discovered tracks of deer and elk, so with intense curiosity she followed them, finding a lake. She couldn't help but smile as she recalled all of the times her and Ander had done this. Soon she found a log nearby and sat watching the stillness of the water. She stood from her spot within minutes, feeling a twinge of pain in her heart as she thought of the possibility that she may not survive the upcoming days. The words she'd never get to say to Ander, to her mother, to Emylee all filled her mind. She looked out at the water one last time and abandoned the woods, just as the good feeling it offered abandoned her.

 

*~* 

Beth had found an easy path to and from the Lake on the way back. She decided to make note of it in her journal when she returned to her cabin later. Beth glanced into the commons as she slid through the open door. There was a large pantry closet, two large freezing chambers, and a decent sized cooling chamber inside the first large room, the ceilings were high and had windows out of which you could see the clouds roaming the blue skies. She imagined what it must be like at night when the moon is accompanied by millions of beautiful stars. Noeh was in the kitchen leaning on a counter while talking to the three other boys from their cabin. Beth waved before snagging some Oreo ice cream out of one of the freezers, and walked to the boys.

"Hey there tiger, feel better?" Noah asked.

"I suppose, where is the she-devil?"

"Back in the cabin sleeping."

"Winters here already?"

"Funny, but hey let me introduce you to our other roommates, whom I should add are less aggressive for your sake. This is Chaess, Peitre, and Calvenne." They each waved, while Beth managed a smile. "And this not-so-pleasant peach here is Beth."

"Nice to meet you guys." she said with a laugh. "I'm going try to go unpack without waking the beast. Catch you guys later." 

Beth walked towards the door, looking out the window. After taking a second to process, her eyes went wide with utter disbelief and she suddenly shoved her limber body behind the side wall pulling her hood to cover her face. She leaned against the wall trying to be as discreet as possible and continued to eat her Quillron. That's when he walked in. Ander, even more attractive than he was at thirteen years old, waltzed through the door with such unbelievable confidence. 

Beth watched him proudly stroll by, the flex and utter strength lying in his muscles. If only he had known she was here. Once she was sure he wouldn't see, she bolted out of the building. She was breathing so heavily, in total disbelief that he was there. She shook herself from the thought, prodding a gentle reminder that these were all seasoned fighters, and her petty childhood crush dilemma wasn't going to do anything but provoke her into a psychotic episode. Once in the cabin, Beth started the unpacking process, and as soon as she was finished, she climbed into her bed. Joining Melina, the she-devil, in a well deserved hibernation.

 

 

 

 

Chapter Two

The sound of a screaming siren woke Beth from her sleep. She saw every person in that cabin launching up and putting on gear, she followed the same routine. She hadn’t been trained for this yet, she supposed it was one of the drawbacks of being selected as a year four. Year five is typically where specified battle training such as preparation and methodology take place, prior to that is just combat training which mostly hand to hand tactical training and fighting strategies. It made sense, sort of. The majority of soldiers going into war and the advanced bases are in years five or six, rarely year fours. Yet, this year both Noeh and Beth, both year fours were selected for A1, that was unheard of. Beth opened her designated armory closet where her weapons and outer gear were located. She put the gear on her body, eyeing the weapons she could choose from. Beth ran a finger down the string of the sleek brown bow, slinging it and the matching quiver filled with different arrows onto her back. In a last second glance, caught the sight of the two swords that found their places in the sheaths across her shoulders, and finally strapping a belt of throwing knives to her waist. She was surprisingly the first finished and prepared to leave. She felt fierce and ready for whatever would come her way. 

Running to the door, she latched her helmet and mask onto her head, and flew onto the same mothball bus she rode on to get to this place. She surveyed the rest of the passengers to see if they seemed to notice the smell, or if any of them were Ander. It was hard to tell with helmets and all, but she figured she'd know him if she saw him. The body armor and gear concealed just about every body part you could use to identify a person, Beth couldn't even tell who were boys and who were girls. She wondered if that was purposeful.

When Ander made his appearance on the bus, he hadn't yet put on his helmet, that was until he took the seat next to Beth. She hadn't seen him since that summer, and he was different. She couldn't tell what it was about him, all she could tell is that he wasn't the same. But then again, neither was she. They rode to their destination in silence, he had no idea who she was. As far as he knew Beth was at home, probably still asleep. But she wasn't, Beth was shoulder to shoulder with him. So close she could basically hear what he was thinking, which of course was not a hard task for someone going into battle being that the options are usually pretty pointed.

As soon as their feet hit the battle grounds, it was war. Literal war. However, it was not the type that comes to mind. It wasn’t the type of war where a line of soldiers charge their enemies willing to risk their lives for each other. No, this was a war where every man and woman took their own path. Which only called for certain disaster. Beth tried to keep an eye on Ander, tried to keep him within her reach in case something were to go wrong, but she quickly lost sight of him in the abounding chaos. She ran towards the area she had seen him last and heard his bellowing yell which would only indicate intense pain. She turned her head to see the tip of a sword fixed on Ander’s throat, his helmet lying several yards away. She wasted no time pulling two arrows and lodging them into the heart of the assailant. At that very moment, everything she had ever known changed. She fell to the ground, trembling as if she were the one being impaled. I just killed someone. I killed a person. Her thoughts screamed inside of her.

You never know the pain, the regret, of taking a life until you've made the mistake of stopping another's precious heartbeat yourself. Beth shouted, feet planted on the ground, slashing, stabbing, and maiming more and more people. She forced herself to snap out of her guilt, she forced herself to survive. It was what she had always done. She had slaughtered four men before she realized Ander had kept running. Sprinting in the direction she had last seen him, the dust and thick brush made it nearly impossible to find him. She stopped running, trying to gain a sense of where she was. She surveyed the area seeing only rocks, trees, and a nearly purple sky. She heard shuffling of leaves behind her, she turned to see what had made the noise, sword at the ready but was yanked down into a small opening hidden in the ground under some brush. She let out a small yelp and managed a glance at the captor who had a finger over the mouth of their helmet, she decided rather quickly to remain silent. Beth watched out of the opening as feet ran by. Her captor peaked out and tossed a small device that she didn't recognize. Killing all four pairs of feet that passed the small opening with a surprisingly large explosion. Her captor slowly stood to ensure there were no more dangerous beings outside, and waved a hand for Beth to follow. They crept out of the hole, and began to run. Weaving through trees and bushes, they were careful not to make much noise. The only noises you could hear from them were the sounds of knives, arrows, and explosions ending the lives of more people. The two ran for hours, killing person after person. It had been a two hour ride to the drop off location, and another hour trek to get to the battlegrounds. Above them, the two could see the sun beginning to set.

"It's almost time for us to head back. Follow me." 

Ander. Beth simply nodded, still hoping he wouldn't learn that she was in his presence. The last thing she wanted was to expose herself to him, especially not on a battlefield. She would let him know, but not until battle was over. The two of them switched pace, slaughtering one dangerous soldier after the next until finally reaching the bus. There were six people at the bus when Ander and Beth arrived. It was only when they boarded the bus and rode away did she realize that only eight out of twelve of them survived. It was only the first battle and they had already lost four people. Beth's mind had trouble wrapping around that idea. They were supposedly the best fighters in the country and yet four of them were now dead. Although, part of her was still hoping that one of them was Melina. Once they got back to the cabins, only three people still had their masked helmets on. She was sure that no one kept their mask for the same reason she did.

 Beth sulked back into the cabin to see Calvenne's bed and armory empty. She felt a rush of guilt race over her. I should've been there.. Beth started to speak, deciding she wouldn't let that happen again.

"I need you to listen to me for a minute, all of you."

"Why should we?" Melina asked with notable ignorance and anger.

"Not now Melina, you can be a psychotic prick some other time, but right now you need to listen."

Melina, cold with spite, raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.  "Proceed."

"Today, I was stupid. I killed someone for the first time in my life and I let the guilt and terror get inside my head. Now look, I haven't killed prior to this, but today I killed forty six people. I wasn't close to anyone but Noeh when I arrived this morning," Beth swallowed remembering why she killed that first person, for Ander, "I couldn't help but think that if it was me witnessing a friend being killed rather than me murdering a stranger, I wouldn't have been able to recover. In order for us to be strong, we have to refrain from losing our minds. I was guilty of it today but I can promise, it's not happening again. We are all needed out there. We need to be an actual team. We can’t do what we did today and assume a free for all will end a full-on-war." The room was silent for a few moments, the idea of what had happened sinking in.

"If we are split like we were today we can count on no one making it out tomorrow. You're right, we need to be a team." Noeh said moving to Beth’s side.

"Exactly, if you don't have unity, you won't have success. And frankly, success is what we need right now."

"I suppose that you have a point." Melina suggested with a shrug.

"Then that's what we'll do. When that alarm sounds tomorrow, it will be us on and off of that bus together."

"Okay, but what about the other cabin?" Chaess asked meekly as he shifted his eyes from Melina to Beth. "I mean they lost three guys this morning."

"I don't know guys, that's three more to add to us. There are five of us, that's enough. We can't move in that big of a group. It's too risky." Peitre answered.

"It's only three guys, Pietre, it's not like we are adding ten more. Haven’t you see how many people are in each group of the other bases? No less than 100, I’m betting. And aren't they supposed to be our team too? We were all selected together. Maybe we could use the extra help" Chaess asked with a look of sympathy for Ander's cabin.

"I know its just three guys, but do we even know they'll stick with us. I know we are in on this plan. but what if they aren't?" Peitre retorted.

"Fine, then it's just us. We are in this together now." Melina turned her attention to Beth and extended a hand to her. "We need a do-over, I'm Melina."

"Beth." The girls shook hands while the boys cheered and laughed at them.

"And the beasts have been tamed." Melina and Beth glared at Noeh as he spoke.

"Don't push it." The two said in unison, and couldn't help but laugh.

*~*

A few hours after everyone had gone to sleep, Beth was still wide awake. The image of forty six people falling to the ground due to the impact of a weapon that she was handling haunted her. Beth sat in that bunk, staring at the ceiling with a stone-cold expression for hours. She couldn't process that she had just killed real human beings. Beth's whole life had been spent hunting deer, elk, turkeys, and targets. Never a human being, it was hard on her. She lifted her body out of the bed as quietly as she could and trekked out to the lake. To her, that was the only thing that offered peace. She stayed for what seemed like the entire night, waiting for that guilt to stop controlling her. Tomorrow, she promised herself. You're not going to be like this, Beth. If you make it you are not going to do this again. She finally calmed herself enough to go back to the cabin where she finally got the sleep she deserved.

*~*

For the second morning in a row, the scream of that horrible siren woke Beth from her deep slumber. Just like trained soldiers, the five warriors sprung into action. They were gearing up as if they'd been awake for hours already. Together, they ran to the bus and sat in a group. When the bus had all eight passengers, it departed for uncertain death. 

Beth looked to the other portion of the bus, seeing him there with his helmet off, he was alone. She wanted to go over to him, to tell him it would all be okay, that she was here experiencing it all too. But, she couldn't. He was the only person in this world she was truly afraid of confronting, she knew he would never hurt her, but she also knew he would never love her. That thought scared her more than anything. Beth stared at him, thinking back to when he did love her, when things were okay between them. Unfortunately, that same part of her mind remembered it will never be like that again. She had finally started to live with that idea, that she was going to be without him, that she needed to move on with her life. But then, there he was. As if she was supposed to only think of him.

*~*

They launched out of the bus as soon as it's tires stopped moving, as they approached the battle field, Beth saw the enemies. They weren't running. They weren't even moving. They were just standing there.

"Stop!" Beth screamed, all but one of them stopped. An explosion sent dirt and dust soaring into the odd looking sky, and among the dirt and dust was Melina's broken and limp body. In the back of her mind, Beth figured it would be Melina that wouldn't listen.

"We have to keep moving, they're coming!" Peitre yelled, Beth looked ahead to see them running now. She ran directly over the spot where Melina's, now deformed, body was blown up to ensure that they would not set off other bombs. They ran to the enemy lines, and the chaos began. Above her, she saw a small circular object flying towards them.

"Get behind something and lay down quick! Cover your heads and stay down!" Beth yelled, the three boys followed direction. She dove to her left and had just touched the ground when the object exploded. The sound was so overpowering. The ringing in her ears was intense, she remained on the ground until she regained as much of her hearing as she thought necessary. She waited until she could hear the miniature army shuffle off, when they did she fired her arrows. Once all of them were dead, she checked her surroundings.

"It's clear." The three of the boys rose from the ground looking at each other.

"Okay, you just saved our lives." Chaess muttered in awe.

"Are you surprised? Come on." The four of struggled to get on their feet, once standing they ran to where the army came from.

"Beth, where is everyone else?" Peitre shouted over the sounds of explosions in the distance.

"I didn't see them, after the explosion. We can only hope they survived." Beth especially hoped they were alive. She wouldn't know what to do otherwise.

An explosion erupted and feet shuffled from behind a large array of boulders and trees. Beth drew her bow, sending arrows flying into the flesh of the ambush members. The clanking of swords and knives filled the air, the rush of battle filling her blood. Beth slipped her bow back over her shoulder and drew her swords slashing through the bodies of soldiers trying to kill her and her team.

"Noeh!" She shouted as a sword started its journey towards the head of her friend, Noeh pivoted his body and blocked the blow with his beautiful silver sword. Gathering to each other the four faced outward, back to back slicing, and slashing the oncoming soldiers. There was no way to count how many people there were until they were all dead. With deep breathing the four started off, once again, muttering praises to each other. The boys trailing not far behind Beth. She felt free, it was a completely different feeling than that sense of guilt she had the day prior. She felt proud of what she was doing, she felt powerful. That was a feeling she wanted more of.

Suddenly, the four stopped running. An overwhelming silence filled every last inch of the woods. The battle was over for the day. The trainers at camp used to tell them that if they heard nothing but their own breath, it was likely that the fight was over.

"Is it time?" Chaess asked peering at Beth as if she would know the answer.

"I think it is." Beth said looking at the boys who were all staring back.

"Do you think they're alive?" Chaess asked looking to the ground, fear and sadness filling his eyes.

 "Only one way to find out. We should go." They started to make their way to the pick up location. While Beth was busy watching ahead for any sign of dangerous terrain or beings, the boys found the members of the other cabin. There were three, and Beth immediately identified him, he still had all gear intact including his helmet, but she still knew. One unlatched his helmet, breathing heavily as he removed it from his head. Beth recognized him, from the camp top charts when she was fourteen. His name was Quinn, his muscles were larger than her head. His cropped black hair made him look fierce, it was no surprise to Beth that he was here. Standing beside Quinn was another handsome guy, except she didn’t recognize him. His dark complexion and kind eyes made him seem approachable, not a battle face. 

"All of you are still alive? Where did you come from?" Quinn asked.

"Just over that hill, she saved us from basically an entire troop and a number of bombs that none of us even noticed until they were exploding." Noeh replied, Beth made a mental note of the word bomb, she assumed that was what they called the explosion devices.  

"She?" Ander asked as he and the dark-skinned boy, named Stievan,  quickly removed their helmets in surprise.

"Yeah, she saved our butts." Chaess badgered lightly nudging Beth's arm.

"How?" Ander asked, Beth drew a nervous sigh.

"Well," Beth uttered softly, slowly sliding her helmet from her head, Ander turning to her so fast it could have snapped his neck. "All I had to do was remember. I had to remember what I was taught about fighting back home, and figure how to apply what I learned to protect myself out here." The two stared at each other. Both seemingly expressionless, yet she could tell something was burning in his mind, and she was sure he could see the same. He waited, and after a few seconds stated, eyes still fixed on her, "We need to get back to camp. We won't have this much time tomorrow. We need rest." His stare remained on Beth for a few seconds more before turning to the bus, Ander walked away.

"We need a leader. I mean, all the best teams had a leader, right? Obviously we are all going to stick together now. Even if that means a bigger group." Peitre called out to Ander.

Ander stopped, not turning back to look. Noeh glanced to Beth, question pooling in his eyes, and back to Pietre. "We do."

The boys bickered suggestions of Ander and Beth to be leaders, all the while the two just stood there. Ander had turned back, their eyes locking once again. It had been so long since the two had been so close. Their eyes ripped into each other, with pain so unbearable it could probably take down armies.

And without breaking that glass shattering eye contact Beth yelled, "Shut up!" All conversation ceased. "Ander is going to be the leader. He's better at this, so he will be the one to get us out of here." He, as well as the others, looked stunned and confused, breaking the eye contact.

Beth could vaguely hear the mumbling between the others, “How did she know his name?” and “ What’s the deal there?” She brushed it off, no use in engaging something that even she was clueless about.

"We should go."  Ander called out, Beth didn't recognize the emotion in his rough voice.

Beth looked to her feet and tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

"What was that? Is that him, Beth? Is that the Ander?" Noeh prodded as the others trailed out of earshot.

"Yes, it's him."

"Beth, you never even told me what actually happened."

"It was nothing, okay? We are simply members in each others' past. The only thing you should be worrying about now is staying alive. So focus on that."

"That didn't look like nothing to me. Besides, he's not the one that saved us, Beth, you are. He can be labeled whatever but we are still going to look to you."

"Don't make this into more than it is, Noeh. I did what I could to get you this far, but he can do more. You'll see."

"I'm only listening because I trust you."

 "If you trust me, you trust him."

 

 

Chapter Three

Soon they reached the bus, Beth was the last one on. For some reason she will never understand, the only open spot on this new bus that had benches instead of seats, was next to Ander. She looked at him, to see him staring already. The tension between the two was unbearable, and Beth could feel her face burning with not even embarrassment, but rather misery. Instead of sitting next to him and risking the pain she could inflict upon herself, Beth stood, holding on to one of the ceiling handles. While everyone else talked of their crazy run-ins and intense combat stories, the two remained in silence. Failing to break eye contact a single time. The lack of words translated to more than she could comprehend. The bus came to a stop and the warriors made their way to the cabins, as she was walking up the stairs, she looked to the other cabin for just a last glimpse of him. That's when she noticed him doing the same. She tried to hide the redness that was spreading like a forest fire on her face as she turned and shuffled into the cabin. It was still so hard for her to accept that this was real. That Ander was there, actually there. she had always wondered what would happen if she'd ever crossed paths with him again. Of course, she never knew what to would expect, but she also wasn't counting on it being anything like this.  

*~*

Two weeks later, Beth woke peacefully and in her own timing. Which was not a far stretch from the sirens considering the sun hadn't risen yet. She noticed that the boys in her cabin were still sleeping which was not a surprise. The prior week had been extraordinarily painful. Her and Ander could hardly be in the same room before the uncomfortable silence would make an appearance. After the first few days, she stopped looking at him altogether. She found it harder everyday to be in his presence. On the bright side, no one had died, their tactics had become more solid, and their strategies more thorough. There were very few things that could shake them. However, as they got better, so did the enemies. Ander spoke of this at one of the night meetings that they had started a week prior, he was starting to worry. They were down to five weeks until the end of  camp. Until they would be expected to become the leaders of the Delahonte Army, which is a terrifying thought. The temporary elder leaders that replaced the base leaders before them had since stepped down due to medical and mental strains, and the new base members would be expected to take over. Beth was unsure of what the Quill was thinking, being the leaders of the country, you'd think they'd have a better strategies than letting a group of teenage fighters lead the entire army of the country. If we survive, I don't know what will happen to our families, our friends, nothing will be the same.

Beth quietly put her clothing on, and slipped her bow and quiver over her shoulder just incase. As she walked by the other cabin, she tried her best to look inside for Ander, yet refused herself the indignity of getting embarrassingly close to the window. That was when she decided that her conscious was on overload and continued walking. Beth hiked through the woods until she found the log on which she had reminisced her memories just weeks before, about the boy that she had no idea was even there. Beth sat quietly, looking out over water. Enjoying the peace whose existence that she had seemed to overlook those first few days. As she was looking about the serene waters, she heard twigs snapping.

"I had no idea anyone else knew about this, much less would be up this early to see it." A familiar voice commented softly. She shifted her gaze to Ander, his face so much stronger than before. Beth never knew it was possible, but he somehow managed to get even more attractive than the days prior. Her heart raced at the sight of him, and how close he was tossed her stomach around.

"Neither did I, I couldn't imagine anyone else wanting to venture this far out into the woods. I've realized they have no sense of adventure in them." She looked back over the water in silence. "Why hasn't the siren gone off?"

He came forward, sitting on the log leaving distance between them. "Don't think we deserve a day off?"

"Well, I didn't think about it that way."

"Our sirens go off once they start in our direction. I watched them one morning. I snuck out, and everyone thought I had been captured or killed.  What I would give to see the terror on their faces again, when they thought they were seeing a ghost." Beth laughed softly, he was good at easing tense situations. He always had been. The two sat in silence, but he looked at her, and she looked back.

"Why did you tell them to choose me, Beth?"

"I don't need to be a leader, it's safer when I'm not. Besides most of what I know comes from you anyway. It would be foolish of me to be captain when my competition was the one person who taught me what I know." she paused, "I also know you'd prefer it to be that way."

"You've always been a leader, I just don't understand."

"You don't need to understand. I decided." She stared at the water waiting for him to say something, but instead he just kept his silent gaze fixed on her. "What?"

"Nothing." He looked away as quickly as he could, but his eyes soon returned and locked with hers.

 

Suddenly overwhelmed by memories, Beth retreated back to the cabins in a calm manner without uttering another word. Noticing that everyone was still sleeping, she walked to the Commons Building to make breakfast. As she was washing her hands, she noticed Ander out the window. It was difficult for her to grasp that she had just had an actual conversation with him. It was nothing like she'd imagined. For so long, she feared reuniting with him. She thought she would freeze in terror, unable to utter a single word. But it was nothing like that, she felt more at ease when she spoke to him. For once, she felt as though she was safe. Beth turned off the sink, scurried and opened the door.

"Ander!" He looked at her, his eyebrows raised. "Wake everyone up, I've got breakfast in ten!" He smiled and banged on his cabin doors yelling my message to the sleeping teens. Through the windows of the cabins, I could see the boys moseying out of bed as though they were being raised from the dead. Beth laughed to herself as she shut the door and finished preparing a large enough meal to feed seven teenagers. She had finished just in time for all six boys to come barreling through the door. She stood back laughing and watching them act like animals over bacon and eggs, each of them finding some way to mess with her before finding a seat at the dining room table. Noeh and Ander were laughing, as they rushed her way.

"You better eat something, lady. I know you hate breakfast- like most other things- but you hardly ate yesterday." Noeh said as he poked her stomach.

"I guess I am a little hungry." She confessed with a smirk.

"A little? Beth, you can eat more in one sitting than I can in three days. I honestly have no idea how you're so skinny." Noeh teased as he piled more bacon onto his plate.

"Fine, throw me a plate!" And as if he was waiting for a cue, Stievan threw a plate at Beth like it was a Frisbee. She loaded her plate with eggs and bacon and sat at the table with the rest of the boys. "Well, captain," Beth said looking to Ander. "What's our plan?" He glanced at her with an expression she could not identify.

"The plan is to stick together. No man- or Beth- can be alone out there." We laughed a little, "But, seriously, we absolutely cannot risk leaving anyone alone. We are already greatly outnumbered. But, I also think we should make the troop smaller, split into groups."

"Split up? Ander, are you out your mind? There are only seven of us. We will get annihilated. Plus you just said we need to stick together. That doesn't seem very 'together' to me." Chaess whimpered, the boys broke out into loud debate. Beth looked at Ander who was obviously looking for some assistance.

"Guys-" The boys continued their chatter, "HEY!" They immediately shut their mouths and stared at Beth. "Thank you. Ander is right. Traveling in such a large group puts us at higher risk of being seen. We should split up. It will make it easier to hide and follow."

"Idea," Quinn cut-in, "Why don't we divide into three groups with even skill sets. Say one group would be me, Noeh, and Stievan. It evens out strong suits. Another team should be Beth and Chaess, and the last Ander and Peitre."

"That's a good idea, that way we have a better chance." Peitre added.

"Then that's our plan. We head out when that alarm sounds. We all know how to fight, so fight like the life of someone you love depends on it. We need to keep our minds focused, distractions are everywhere, and as I understand this isn't easy for any of us. We are not trained killers, we are trained fighters. You all know there is a distinct difference. I'm sure none of you, prior to coming here, had killed a single person in your life. That's because its not normal to go out and kill. What we are doing here is no easy task. But, that's why they chose us. We are seven of the country's strongest young adults. They need us. And we cannot let them down." There was nodding and mumbling in agreement. Beth stared at him, she couldn't help it. She'd spent so much time trying to forget why she was in love with him, but it was that right there. That was it, she thought to herself, Oh, who am I trying to kid? Was in love with? I still I am. I never stopped.

"We need a name." Stievan suggested.

"Yeah! Something intimidating, we can leave our mark better!" Chaess said, we all looked at him.

"Chaess, we are basically a group of teenage murderers, I think the whole intimidation thing comes with us." Quinn remarked.

"Hey, hey, hey," She said, "He didn't say anything wrong. That's what we are going for."

"How about the dolphins? Those things are wicked, they fight sharks and win!" Chaess said with overwhelming energy. Everyone stopped and looked at him as if the poor boy had four heads, one eye, and smelled like rotten eggs.

"Okay, now that-" Beth paused,"-that's what we are avoiding. Nice try though." She added trying to support him.

"How about something like 'The Seven?'" Quinn asked.

"Actually, I like that. 'The Seven.'" Ander said. 

*~* 

It was about half-way through the day, when the Seven had all decided to carry on like a normal day. For hours they had been remaining in the Commons Building waiting for the alarm, but nothing happened. They left their suits on, just in case.

"Hey, Beth." Noeh said as he approached her.

"Hey, walk with me?"

"Sure." They started walking towards the stables that they had not yet explored. "I saw him looking at you."

"Who?"

"Ander, he looks like he's afraid of you."

"He's not afraid of anything, especially not me. And trust me that is not his look of fear."

"What happened?"

"Ander and I were, well, simply said we were a thing back when were little."

"Well, obviously genius. Don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that."

"Very funny-"

"Beth, tell me, you've never told me."

"Fine, fine. Ander and I had been best friends for as long as I can remember. But we were just kids, and long story short, just before my thirteenth birthday, also the year I met you, he left. Ander, being the person that he is, just left. He never said goodbye, or told me where he went, or anything and hadn't spoken to me until the second day we were here. I told his mother to deliver him a letter for me, it basically said that no one should ever leave the ones most important to them and that it was better if he stayed away from me. I even wrote it nicely, I could never be harsh to him. But, he never wrote back."

"Wow, so you broke his heart?"

"I might have, but if I did, he had already beaten me to it." She stopped before the sliding door of the stables. "No matter what he thinks, I never meant to hurt him, I was waiting for him to come back to me, and of course he never did." She turned back to the door and slid it open, flipping the light switch and taking in the view of the ginormous barn.

"That's how he broke yours."

"Yes." She said looking in each of the stalls, and the tack and feed rooms at the end. All empty.

"Did you ever fall for another guy?"

"No, I never even thought about them. All I could think of was Ander. I felt abandoned and I haven't let anyone that close to me since."

"Beth, why didn't you ever tell me?" He asked, his dark brown eyes meeting hers.

"I've never told anyone, it still hurts me, and it's a little embarrassing that I am so desperate and heartbroken over a relationship that happened before I even knew what love was."

"You know what love is now-" He paused. "You love him." Beth looked to the ground, then to the ceiling, tears blinding her eyes. She had never realized that another person would be able to analyze that part of her, she thought that she was able to disguise it.

"Everything is different now."

*~*

She sat in that same spot outside of the Commons for hours as the boys had come and gone. But still no siren, fear engulfed every last touch of skin and bone on her body. She thought about the possibilities beyond that siren, what was causing the siren to refuse to blare out its gut wrenching tune. She wondered if they had done something to win, but then again it couldn't have done that quickly, she feared so many things.

"Hey, Princess!" Chaess shouted as he ran to her, his arms dangling and red hair bouncing in the breeze.

"What? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing’s wrong. You just looked all dopy and sad over here."

"Well, okay then." She laughed a little.

"Is everything okay?"

"That's a good question. One that I'm not sure I have an answer to." He raised an eyebrow, perplexed by her answer. "I'm worried about why the siren hasn't sounded. Something seems off, and I'm not sure I want to discover what that something is."

"I'm sure whatever it is, we will figure it out. And-" He stopped speaking as he noticed the delivery truck pulling up to the drop off. "Yay! Deliveries!" He shouted as he ran to the truck. Beth watched as the boys helped the delivery men carry boxes into the Commons. She watched Ander the most, the muscles in his arms flexing at the weight of the objects he was holding. The boys were laughing, and carrying on as if they hadn't been there for the past two weeks of murder and destruction. To Beth, it was amazing. She loved to see the boys meander around as if the world were truly a beautiful place. But it's not. And Beth was aware that even the boys knew that.

 

*~*

Chaess awoke to the familiar sounding of the siren he'd come to hate. In a flash, he was suited and ready to fight with his new partner who was killer. Literally. He'd been observing how she fought in the field over the weeks of battle. He was amazed at how powerful and unstoppable one girl could be. She was the youngest out of all them and yet if she went against even Ander, she would win. Chaess was sure of it. He's was very relieved when they got paired as battle partners. If they ever got into a rough situation, he had no doubt that she'd be the one to recover them.

The bus ride was awfully quiet in comparison to how it normally was. Usually the only quiet ones on the bus were Ander and Beth. Chaess had decided that they were silent because they were the most lethal of the group, and the rest of them used their noise to cover up the fact that they will never compare to the fierceness of those two. The bus screeched to a halt and all seven of the team scurried off the bus like sly little creatures. He saw Beth just ahead of him jogging to the western region of the battle grounds, her and Ander were shouting orders and pointing to different sectors of the battle grounds. Chaess increased the speed of his gait to match strides with Beth. The two nodded two each other and parted from the rest of the group heading directly for their planned sector. Almost immediately, the skill of the partnership was tested as six Dumarian soldiers appeared from the wooded area ahead of them. Beth and Chaess stopped running and pulled their best weapons. Chaess pulled his two swords while Beth pulled four daggers holding two in each hand. The Dumarian soldiers attacked. Chaess sliced the air, yelling and grunting as he sliced a mans chest open and another's throat, returning to the man with the sliced chest for one final blow to the heart. He saw, through his peripheral vision, Beth sending two daggers clear through two mens' hearts. A lethal smile formed on her lips as she flicked a dagger to her left where a man was about to slash her with a sword and jumped onto him to continue her fight. Chaess met eyes with the remaining soldier who looked as though he was about to piss himself. He leaped for the soldier with one sword in the air and the other at waist level and collided weapons with the soldiers. Clashing and banging sounded as their swords met between their bodies. With one swoop of his sword Chaess disarmed one of the soldier's. The soldier, while Chaess was focused on the weapons, kicked Chaess's knee in causing him to fall to the ground. Silence. The soldier stalked towards Chaess who was lying on the ground, hands on his knee. The soldier smiled like a predator and raised a swords to kill Chaess, that was until a dagger lodged into his heart, dropping him to the ground immediately.

"Are you okay to get up?" Beth asked. "Do you need a healer?"

"I'm okay. Thank you for that."

"What are partners for?" She smiled offering a hand to Chaess who stood with her help.

 The two continued on through the forest, Beth now using her bow to take soldiers out in the distance and Chaess slicing through anyone who got close. They tore through their sector with vicious calculation and action. They were fearless and unstoppable. It wasn't long before the forest fell silent and the two retreated back to the rest of the group for the night.

*~*

It had been a rough day for everyone. They all had pushed harder than any of the battles before. Ander watched as Beth snuck into the stables, watching her surroundings, attempting to make sure no one was watching as she slipped in the sliding door and pulled it shut behind her. Part of him wondered why she was being so secretive, the other part knew it was better if he didn't. He sat and watched the stable door for hours, worried that she was in trouble or something of the sort. Darkness fell quickly, and in his concern he went to the stables. He found Beth cuddled up in the corner of a stall fast asleep. He smiled, then shook his head. He didn't know how he felt seeing her so peaceful, so- beautiful. Her body moved slightly and her eyes opened slightly.

"Is this going to be hobby for you? Coming to this stall?" He asked to avoid embarrassment.

Startled, Beth sat up quickly and ran a hand through her loose blond hair stained with blood.

"Depends, is it going to be habit for you to come in after me?" She retorted.

"Point taken." He said, unsure of what else to say he slowly turned and started to leave.

"Wait," She said, "Where are you going?"

"To bed, it is night. I sleep during the night."

"Night already?"

"If darkness means night, then yes. Yes, it is night." He said smirking at her.

"Well, I have no intentions of sleeping out here." She said as she brushed debris off of her battle suit.

He decided to wait for her, but he didn't know why. He watched as she brushed pine shavings and straw away from the corner of the stall where she had cleverly hidden her weapons.

"Now why did you do that?"

"You never know what dangers there are. Plus it was more comforting knowing that I wouldn't accidently impale myself with a dagger in my sleep."

He laughed as she gathered the rest of her weapons, together they left the stables and headed back to their cabins. The night was barely lit by the small sliver of light that was the moon. Ander observed the sky, noticing how truly beautiful the night was. He intended on seeing it again.

"Thank you." Beth said softly as she turned to her cabin.

"For what, may I ask?"

"For making sure I was okay." She said with a bashful smile, she seemed almost afraid to speak to him, and when she did speak they were only witty defenses. He wondered what it was like for her. To see him, he wondered if it was anything like it felt for him.

"You're welcome," He said turning away but paused and smiled delicately, "Goodnight, Donoway."

"Goodnight, Rockwell."

*~*

Chapter Four

The siren screamed and the Seven jumped into action. Beth strapped her usual gear and weapons to her body, wide awake within a matter of seconds and sprinting out the door followed by the others. Once on the bus, she sat on the first bench soon accompanied by Ander, to her surprise. Although they sat next to each other, the two didn't speak for the entire trek, even when they ran in stride to the battle grounds. Bombs exploded around them, and the sounds of battle filled the open landscape.

"Remember your partners and let's show these sons of bitches what they're up against!" Ander shouted to the other members of the Seven. Beth and Ander nodded to each other as they ran to their partners and continued on.

Beth and Chaess ran to the center of the battle ground, masked by trees and brush. Killing and fighting anyone that got in their way. They were an amazing pair, using each other as amplified weapons. Shouting in warning to the other and latching arms to sling each other from danger. The two could take on armies without losing a beat. They were an unstoppable team. They continued on through the woods. Magnificently dodging knives, and arrows as if they knew when and where they were coming from. But, perfection never seemed to last. Beth sensed the very moment the weapon went flying that no good would come from it. Her heart stopped beating. Started. Stopped. Then dropped to her stomach as the world altered to slow motion, knives flying every which direction met by shields and arrows, men dropping to the ground like flies, all such a blur. But she felt something, something inside of her that she had never felt before and it filled her veins like fire burning through a forest. She had hardly gotten the chance to explore what it was she was feeling when she heard a familiar voice falter.

Chaess screamed as one knife lodged in the space centered on his chest and another sliced through the muscle of his left arm before falling to the ground. Beth knelt to the side of the sobbing and wincing boy, soldiers watching her every move, paused, cautious of the woman that would soon tear them to shreds. Slowly, she rose, lifting her gaze to the men surrounding her, that strange feeling still bubbling beneath her skin. She gripped the hilt of her sword, chin lowered, eyes fixed on her targets. Without a word she launched, plunging her sword into a man's gut, pulling it out and slicing another's neck, and continuing from soldier to soldier as they tried and failed to fight back. She was moving more swiftly than she ever had, the feeling beneath her skin exploding, until every cad was dead. Shaking, she sheathed her sword and turned to her friend was now bleeding more than she had ever seen a person bleed.

"Chaess, Chaess it's okay, it's going to be okay."

"Help me." He cried.

"I'm going to help you, Chaess, but you need to help me too." Beth grabbed him and lifted him off the ground as if he was a paperweight and slipped her arm under his shoulder.

"Come on, Chaess, you have to walk with me." His pain was unbearable but, he listened to Beth, knowing she could help him. The two walked back to the location where the bus had left them, Beth killing anyone who tried to stop them. Once back to the stop, she left Chaess outside the small shack to find medicinal tools, to no avail. She pressed the emergency medical assistance button, broken. Frustrated, she sifted through the shack looking for anything she could use. Grabbing a bottle of alcohol, a sewing needle, and three pillow cases, one with a pillow still inside, she dashed back to Chaess.

"You are not going to like what I am about to do, and it is more than likely going to cause you to lose consciousness. Just so you know what I am doing, I am saving your life." She put a foot against his functioning arm and applied her weight to it. With her other leg, she pinned his injured arm to the ground, straddling his body. Alcohol and pillow in hand, she yanked the knife out of his chest, and quickly poured the liquid into the open wound. Chaess's scream ripped through her body and what seemed like the entire country, she shoved the pillow against his wound hoping to assist in the clotting of the blood pouring out of the wound. Just like she had predicted, the poor bleeding teenager fainted. Beth waited until the blood flowing was weaker and used the alcohol soaked thread from the pillow cases to stitch his wounds together with a trick she had learned from Emylee, who was in training to be a healer.

"What happened?" Ander shouted as he came upon the scene.

"He was stabbed, and I did what I knew how to save him."

Ander stared at her for a long second before he said, "We need to get him on the bus. Thank you, Beth." He meant it.

*~*

Beth had made sure to explain the details of what had happened the hours prior to Stievan so that he could relay the story to the healer. She did not want to further indulge herself in the possible death of her partner and friend. She instead ran to the stables. As children, Beth and Emylee would ride the ponies at the nearby stables every week. It was the way for them to escape the stress that was present even for young ones in Delahonte. Any children that weren't sent to camp were forced to partake in some sort of labor for the country. This was the Quill's effort of making every citizen a functioning member of society.

The stables were lonely, empty, and too quiet. But Beth loved it, she shoved the large white sliding doors aside with the weight of her body not bothering to shut them knowing there were no animals inside to escape. She took in the details of the large, beautiful stables. The wooden pillars that lined the stalls were dark and aged, the silver floors filled with tiny indents and a coarse look. The air in the stable smelled of straw and wood, one of Beth's favorite and most relaxing scents. She traced a finger along each of the stalls hoping to find one that, if she had to choose, would be her place of comfort in this scary place. She wandered through the barn, numb, until finally finding the one. In the far corner of the barn, next to the stall she had spoken with Ander, was a stall slightly larger than the rest, with the right amount of light rushing in for Beth. She slowly unlatched the lock and pulled the heavy door sideways, stepping into a new place for her to find herself again. Beth retreated into the farthest corner of the stall and sat on the ground. She pulled her knees to her chest, tears forming in her eyes as the sound of Chaess's blood-curdling scream echoed in her mind. Beth rested her head in her arms, sobbing in a way that she would only sob if she knew no one else would see. Blood. Knife. Blood. Chaess. So. Much. Blood. The images flashed in her mind, making her unable to breathe.

"Beth?" She heard Ander calling from outside the stables. "Donoway?"

"I'm here." She managed to breathe through her tears, Ander ran to the door putting a hand on the pillar to stop his motion.

"Beth," He said with a sigh and wiped a hand across his brows. "Beth, what happened?

"I couldn't save him, I didn't see it coming."

"Hey, stop, this isn't your fault." He whispered softly stepping closer and kneeling down in front of her. "Look at me. Look at me." She lifted her eyes to his, their faces just inches apart. He moved a lock of hair from her eyes, and placed a hand on the side of her face wiping a tear from her cheek. "That was not your fault, none of this is your fault."

"But, Ander, I could've helped him."

"You did help him, you stopped his bleeding, and you stitched him up so well that the healer asked who was on staff at the hut. He thought you were a healer, Beth. You did well. He opened him back up to make sure that no organs were damaged, he’s going to be okay. You did save him, Beth."

"That's not what I mean, I could've seen the soldier. I could've killed him before he could hurt Chaess. We were unstoppable out there, no one even got close to taking us down. But, I don't know if we got too cocky or if I was stupid-"

"Beth."

"What I'm saying is, we let our guard down and now Chaess- he's hurt and there's no saying whether he will be able to go back into battle, and if he does there’s no way that it’ll be any time soon." She croaked through her tears.

"We will deal with that subject if it comes, but Beth there was nothing more you could've done."

"That's not true! I could've killed that son of a bitch! I could've- I could've-"

"Died." Ander cut in. "He could've killed you, Beth." Silence filled the barn, Beth looked Ander in the eye to find him returning her gaze. "If he would've killed you," he paused, "I would never forgive myself for letting you out of my sight." Ander stood and walked to the door of the stall. "We need you, Donaway, don't let us-" he turned his eyes back to her. "Don't let me down."

~*~

  Beth could hardly sleep that night, between Chaess' pending recovery and Ander's way of admitting he needed her. Her mind was spinning, she had thought about going to the lake but feared she would find Ander, she also thought about the stables, but there too was the possibility of seeing Ander. For once in her life, Beth wanted to have a moment to think. So instead, she simply stared at the ceiling from her bunk. She wasn't sure how long it would take her to sleep. Or if she would ever sleep again, but part of her didn't care. She was getting tired of all the stress, and all of the fear that had come about lately.

Beth sat there for hours before she finally climbed out of her bunk. She figured that seeing Ander was something she could handle if it meant clearing her head. Though morning light was just hours away, she decided to trek to the lake. Before setting out on her adventure, Beth decided to find a rope, which was conveniently hanging on the wall of the small shed next to the commons building. She slung the rope over her shoulder and a belt of knives around her waist, and took off into the night.

Once Beth had neared the lake, she searched the darkness for a tree branch close enough to the water, and strong enough to maintain body weight for a rope swing. She searched the perimeter of the lake, gradually inclining until the shoreline was a cliff, finally finding the perfect branch just a few feet from the cliff's edge. The tree's trunk was too big for her arms to wrap around, and slightly hung out over the lake. She gathered her body, and used her knives as grips for her hands to climb the tree, relying on the grooves in the bark to hold her feet. Once she climbed high enough to reach the branch, she swung her body, hoisting herself to sit on its surface. She tied a loop in the rope and used it as a weapon against the knives still lodged in the tree, once she had managed to dislodge the knives and memorize the spots they had landed in the dirt, she tied the rope around the branch and, like the trunk of the ginormous tree, her arms couldn't wrap around the branch completely. She struggled for a few minutes, but finally managed to tie the rope well enough to be used. She looked below her, and dropped the rope to see how far off the ground it would fall, luckily the rope fell just short of two feet off the ground, perfect for her to launch herself into the water. She smiled at her creation and leaned her body enough to reach the rope, and observed the drop between the ground and the water. She estimated that the drop would be about twenty feet, but she wasn't sure. She was never good at judging distances. All she was sure of was that the drop wouldn't kill her. She stood on the surface of the branch with a tight grip on the rope, looking to the ground that was far beneath her, and jumped.

When the rope yanked her body back skyward, she let out a small yelp. Although the rope had saved her from hitting the ground at full force, she still had the wind knocked out of her from the impact. The pressure in her chest made her almost want to give up on the rope for the night, but in her stubbornness had decided to power through. Her determination was both an advantage and a hindrance at times. Looking out over the water, Beth decided that she had made the right choice, and collected her breath to jump. 

 ~*~

He swallowed a laugh as Beth sat up from her landing spot on the ground and fished for air as if she hadn't had a single breath in years. She rubbed on her forehead and mumbled loud enough for him to hear her helpless and sulking murmurs. His opinion of her had always been that she was a little too adventurous for her own good, she had frequently gotten herself into similar situations as a child, but that was partially why he loved her.

He observed from a distance as she managed to stumble to her feet, a bit of clumsiness to her movement. He thought it was as if she didn't care, or maybe as if she didn't know to care. He watched as Beth surveyed the lake, trying to figure out what she was thinking of. The one thing the two of them had, the one thing that could set them free was the gaping body of water in front of that beautiful blonde girl. Ander could only think of a single flaw that girl possessed. Her. After what she had done to him, it would take an army to rekindle the trust between the two. It almost took away the guilt of leaving her behind. And yet, there he was. Captivated by the natural beauty of that girl he once loved, watching her from afar, and making like the strangers they had now become. After he left, Ander was confused not to receive any word from her. In the first weeks, he’d sent five letters explaining where he had gone and how he hadn’t a say in the matter. That it was the King’s doing. He remembered clearly on the 26th day since he has left, he received a letter from her. A terrible, unforgiving letter outlining her deep secrets of betrayal and love for another. In so few words, she broke him. He was always so confused by her words, because while she had always been malicious, she had never once been like that to him. Between the two of them, there was a soft and gentle whisper of affection, nothing of violence. For him to receive that letter was a complete surprise. The two of them were so good, it never made sense to him. But, it happened, and though he tried to move on, his heart never strayed from the beautiful blonde overlooking the lake before him.

He noticed that she had wrapped her hands once again around the dangling rope as she ventured further away from the cliff's edge. There had to be at least thirty feet of drop from the edge of the cliff. He watched intently as Beth scaled yet another tree, wondering if she hadn't already learned her lesson the first time, and walked out on a branch until the rope was tight. She tied the end of the rope in a knot, placing it under her foot and gripping the rope above it.

She jumped, and Ander could hardly control himself from yelling and running after the girl who apparently had a death wish.

*~*

Beth resurfaced in the water, her smile wide, and laugh as joyful as it had ever been. She had felt so free flying over the cliff and into the deep waters of the lake. It had been as though she were a weightless bird traveling overseas to find a new place to call home. But, her flight had been cut short by a loud splash and a rush of warm water engulfing her body.

"Are you out of your mind or do you just figure you might die soon anyway?" She heard him call from over the cliff, her face immediately burning, her body going numb with adrenaline and nerves, but also that feeling from the battle, that strange unidentifiable rush inside of her.

"As if! I'm no coward." She called back over, hoping he wouldn't hear her timid and nerve-stricken voice. "At least I have a sense of adventure! Where's yours, Captain?"

"Don't push it, Donoway, I've got adventure running in my veins!"

"Well, are you waiting for an invitation or what? I'm not getting any younger!"

"You know an invitation never hurt anyone," he shouted, his tone calmed her, making her feel like a friend again.

"Oh for Quill's sake! Anderson Rockwell, get the hell down here! Consider yourself invited!" She replied, hoping the conversation wouldn't end.

Out over the cliff's edge came Ander's body soaring through the air until finally submerging into a huge splash of water just short of hitting Beth. As his body emerged into the beautiful moonlit pool, Beth couldn't help but smile.

"Welcome to the party." She chuckled as he wiped the excess water from his eyes.

"What exactly is it that possesses you to get up in the middle of the night for this?" He said with a laugh.

"I told you, adventure. Which someone claims they have in place of blood." She smiled with a grand gesture to show her enthusiasm, splashing water in his face in the process.

"Well you, miss, have not changed in the slightest." He splashed her with a laugh.

"So I’ve been told."

"Do you know how long you've been out here?"

"An hour maybe."

He chuckled, "Yeah, try three."

"What?" She nearly screamed, her eyes widening.

"You've been out here for a long time, Beth. Sunrise is in two hours and we might want to get sleep tonight, or today now." He called as he swam towards the shore and the log at which they first spoke. "Goodnight, Donoway."

"Ander, wait." She said, sadness now making its twisted appearance. "Do you really think Chaess will be okay?"

"I don't know, but I do know this-" he paused swimming closer to her. "No matter who lives, no matter who dies. You will be okay." He offered a smile.

"What about you or me? What if we die?" Her question stopped him, he wasn't sure how to reply.

"It will be okay." Was all he said, seeming as though he didn't believe it for himself.

He turned back and swam to shore. Beth wiped her face and watched Ander as he walked through the forest back towards camp, she too had to leave, so she forced herself from the water and gathered her knives that she had left by the rope, and made the return to her cabin.

*~*

Days had passed before they finally got word on Chaess’s recovery status. He was going to be okay, but he wouldn’t be able to fight for a while. For some reason, they allowed him to stay on base, no one is really sure why. But for Beth’s sake it must be a good thing. Ander knew how guilty she felt for what happened, and though he would be okay, he wasn’t sure how Beth would take it if she couldn’t be with him. The healer had finally left and Chaess was finally able to start walking around and taking care of himself. His quirky mannerisms exhibited even stronger now that he was injured, he giggled far to much for someone who’s literally been to war, stabbed and taken to within an inch of his life. But Ander wouldn’t have it any other way. Chaess brought the whole team’s morale up, he was kind of like the team mascot, cheering them on from base while the others were in the field wreaking havoc on the enemy. 

Ander woke to, surprisingly, silence. He groggily peeked around the cabin to find he was completely alone. He noted that the sun was up however, which meant one of two things: No battle, or he had actually somehow slept through that unearthly siren. The good news was affirmed when he looked outside and found Noeh and Beth sparring in the grass. It was clear who was better, she was so much swifter and her reflexes were so natural, he was a little more wild. Within seconds Noeh was backed to a tree with two swords, one being his own, cross at his neck. Ander laughed, she was truly fierce.

Ander pulled himself out of bed and dressed more casual than he was accustomed, in a t-shirt and mesh shorts. He squinted as the sun met his eyes on his way out of the swinging double doors of the cabin.

“You really think you can just sleep the day away?” Quinn Fletcher asked, his black cropped hair shining in the overwhelming sunlight.

“Shut it, Fletcher, or it’s you who won’t make it to day time tomorrow.” Ander joked sitting at Quinn’s side on the steps of the Commons Building watching Noeh and Beth go at each other over and over again.

“How long have they been at it?” Ander asked.

“Since before I even woke up, it’s been at least three hours.” Ander worried, but didn’t show even the slightest emotion.

“Noeh,” Noeh’s dark eyes meeting Ander’s, “Take a break,.” Ander walked to Noeh who was offering his sword, Ander nodded and took it.

“Be careful, Rockwell.” Beth said with a grim smile, “That sword isn’t the one your used to.” She started to circle him, “Might not work the way you’d like.” She lunged.

Ander was prepared, he met her sword with the one in his hands and pushed her back. Laughing, Beth, went after him again this time switching the position of her sword at the last second, spinning around and stopping her weapon an inch before it sliced through his leg.

“Not bad,” Ander said and in one swoop sent her sword flying to the ground, pinned her to a tree and whispered inches from her face, “But, don’t think that the fight’s over.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” She winked and made a quick maneuver to escape.

Ander turned to her weapon pointed in her direction, even without a weapon, he knew she still had a chance. He lunged at her, sword in the air. Beth rolled, sweeping a leg under Ander’s, he fell to the ground. Quickly, Beth jumped to her, Ander doing the same before stabbing the sword towards her. A powerful kick sent his sword flying and the two were unarmed. 

“It’s not too late to call it, Captain.” Beth smirked, circling him more intensely, she looked like an animal, ready to pounce at any moment. Ander knew her next move before she even made, after all he was the one that taught it to her. She leapt into the air, her legs flying around her, and it one move he had her pinned to the ground.

“You’ve gotten better.” He said smiling, a genuine smile.

“I learned from a great teacher.” She said breathing heavily. The two sat on the ground, as the others clapped and cheered.

“That was sick!” Chaess yelled. Quinn and Pietre were of to the side spewing the childlike phrases recounting the sparring they just witnessed. Noeh watched a small smile on his face, he was off. Something about him hadn’t set right for Ander since the moment he met him. He was determined to find out why. 

“On that note,” Beth said, “I’m going for a walk.” She smiled at Noeh who joined her immediately like a dog. Beth shook her head, and disappointed, he turned back and went into the Commons Building. Ander couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

*~*

It was nearly night, no one had seen or heard from Beth since she had left that morning after the sparring. Noeh was unsurprisingly starting to worry, he knew she’d asked him not to follow her, but he felt like he had to. She was not weak or vulnerable by any means, but he knew that he had to find her. He wandered out into the musty, smelly woods. He’d always hated the woods, he was honestly thankful that citizens were banned from them. He walked and walked, he wasn’t even sure which way to go. He supposed he should’ve at least watched the direction she was going. He called out for her several times, the only response was the cursed, repetitive rustling of the leaves. Nature truly infuriated him. Why would anyone voluntarily open themselves up for vicious woodland creatures, traps, hidden animal dens to break a leg in, or to listening to the stupid noises? 

“Beth!” He called for what must’ve been the eightieth time. “Beth, I swear if you can hear me-”

“What? What do you swear?” Beth called, Noeh looked around but couldn’t see her.

“Beth, what the hell? Where are you?” He heard her laugh, looking behind him, to his left, to his right. And suddenly he heard something behind him. A large dark figure hurling towards the ground and landing before him laughing as he jumped into a panicked fighting postion.

“What? Never climbed a tree before?” Beth asked chuckling at the fear ridden on his face.

“No, as a matter of fact. I have no desire to be a damn raccoon.”

“Oh, please. You’re no fun.” She fake frowned and shoved her shoulder into his.

“Whatever, let’s just go the sun is already setting.”

“Fine, Lieutenant Grump, let’s go.” She smiled widely and gestured for Noeh to lead the way.

“I don’t think so,” He grumbled pushing her infront of him, “Let’s go.”

*~*

Chaess felt useless. Completely and utterly useless. He spent an hour laying on the ground staring at clouds, another eating anything he could find in the Commons Building, another staring at a single tree, and another literally walking in circles. It wasn’t like he could be doing anything that day any way, there wasn’t even battle. But he couldn’t stand just sitting around doing nothing. Needless to say he was thrilled to see Beth walk into the commons.

“Hi! Hi, where have you been all day? Did you do anything interesting? You know, I didn’t really see anyone else today. I wonder what they were all doing. Do you think they had work to do even on their day off, I mean maybe Ander did but the rest of them?” He chuckled awkwardly, “No they were probably lollygagging.” He smiled at Beth, who was staring blankly back.

“Hello to you too.” She half smiled, “I went out to the woods today.”

“Wow, that’s crazy that’s totally against the law.”

“Yeah, well, I guess their rules don’t apply here.” She winked.

“You know, you’re kind of a bad ass.” He blushed as he said it, she was pretty. Pretty girls terrified him.

“Me? You’re the bad ass here, you survived a stab wound while kicking some tail on the battlefield.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly wanna die, so I didn’t have a ton of options.” Beth laughed, but he wasn’t sure why. He was being serious.

“What am I going to do without you for the next few weeks?” She asked.

“Probably kill a bunch of people.” This time she didn’t laugh, that time she was supposed to. Is this why the boys say girls are confusing? He thought. Suddenly, a fear weighed on him. “Beth?” 

“Yeah?”

“Do you think I’m in danger staying her by myself?” He supposed she could see how scared he was because she walked over with a sad look on her face, “I know I’m a really good fighter, but I’m hurt and if they come here. I might not be able to fend for myself.”

“Chaess, you are unlike anyone I’ve ever met in battle specialty.” She paused, it didn’t seem like she would say more, but then she did, “You are a great fighter, and yes you are hurt, but no one is going to come here. That’s why we go out there, to keep them from getting to anyone else. You are safe here. But, I have a question.” He looked up from his wrapped arm and met her eyes, “Chaess, if you are so afraid. Why are you still here?”

Her question surprised him, no one had ever addressed his fear before. He was usually much quieter about his feelings, there was just something about pretty girls that made him squeal like a pig.

“This is all know, my dad sent me to battle training because he thought I would never amount to anything. So, I worked hard. I worked really hard. And I made it this far. I think he thought I would be put on combat duty in year five and just die there. But I made it to year six, in the top twelve of all the years and he’s still not proud. I’m scared to die a disappointment.”

Beth looked sad, he knew she wouldn’t know how to respond to that. So he didn’t make her, “But, I’m still here. So there’s still time. I’m going to be fine, kill tons of people tomorrow.” He attempted a smile and walked out of the commons. But he wasn’t sure he’d be fine.

Chapter Five

Journal. 26 Days Remaining.

I'm still working past the whole, 'Beth is here,' idea. I was always under the impression that she was good. But good was all I thought of her. Not this good. It makes me wonder what she went through these past years. She is here. Of course she's here. That's my luck. Beth is in the one place that I escape. Escape from the thought and memories of her. No more safe zones. No more running from her. She is here. In the flesh, like literally here. What am I doing? Beth is here. She is hard not to look at. Why did I just write that? But, I suppose it's not a lie. She's beautiful. In every way. Except for the way that makes her a deceptive daughter of Quill.

die. die. die. die. One of us should just die, that's what we are here for anyway. Maybe it would be easier than dealing with the pain of seeing her than knowing I never would again. Yeah, she hurt me, yeah, she made me into someone I never wanted to be with what she did, but it's still Beth. She's still Beth. And I can’t blame it all on her. It’s King Mansford’s fault, if he had never taken me from Humes none of this would have happened. That man is truly sinister, but thankfully I don’t think he was able to figure out who I was before sending me here. Our whole lives, Beth and I had worked to stay hidden from the court. She would have been taken if it weren’t for me. They were there to gather the best of the best, and I was the reason they didn’t take her. I explained it all in those letters, careful not to give away any crucial details in case some shit delivery man got nosy. But she never even addressed what I said in those letters. All she sent was the letter detailing her hatred for me. I could never understand why she would say that. I told her I would come back for her, and I intended to until I received that letter. Instead, I worked to get where I am now, only to be met by her. Why her? Why put me through this? I am so distracted. She is all I think of. It’s Beth for Quill’s sake..

 

I still remember. Of course, I still remember. It's Beth. If I ever forgot about her, I would also forget myself.

 I still see. Of course, I still see. It's Beth. If I ever stopped seeing her, I myself would no longer exist.

 I still care. Of course, I still care. It's Beth. If I ever stopped caring about her, it would be the end of me.

 I still want her. Of course, I still want her. It's Beth. If I ever stopped wanting her, I would no longer be me.

 I still love her. Of course, I still love her. It's Beth. If I ever stopped loving her.... I wouldn't.

Being me, is loving Beth.

I made a promise to her, I would never stop caring for and protecting her. 

I don't care because of the promise, I care because she's still Beth. 

Part of me will always be hers, but it may be better to feel that way from a distance.

She's still Beth. She's still dangerous, deadly even. Beth is Beth. And Beth is not a normal girl.

 Anderson J. Rockwell.

Chapter Six

Battle was a routine. Wake up, travel, kill, travel, sleep, repeat. And that day was just like any other. The remaining six fighters, waved to Chaess as the bus started off as they started doing every day. They went out to the battlefield, they mutilated the hell out of some Dumarian soldiers, and returned back. Only that day, when they came home, nothing would be the same.

Beth was the one that found him, lying unconscious in a pool of his own blood. Screaming. More blood. Chaess’s blood. She dropped to the ground screaming his name, screaming for the others. Screaming for help. The healer had been notified. She couldn’t breath. Someone ripped his shirt off, his wound was reopened, he had dozens of new ones. There was a message, Stievan said, written in blood on the wall of the commons, no survivors, royal blood will be spilled. She didn’t even need to hear who smeared the gut wrenching message. He was still breathing, a hint of hope. Hands, dragging her backwards. Noeh and Ander on other side, the healer demanding she be taken out of the room while Quinn and Pietre searched for any soldiers who may have stuck around. Why would he be left alone, she demanded over and over. Nothing could be changed. What was done. She demanded to know if he would survive. Only time would tell.

*~*

She was sitting at his side when the healer entered the large room in the Commons where they had set up a temporary bed for Chaess to stay in; they hadn't wanted him to be stuffed in one of the cabin bunks. Her eyes were heavy with exhaustion from the endless hours she'd spent at Chaess's side.

"Beth?" She raised her head to the man dressed in white.

"Yes, I'm Beth."

"Your team explained what happened, even Chaess shared a bit, this wasn't your fault." The man said without shifting an eye to her as he began working on Chaess. "How long have you been with him?"

"I-I don't know. Some time last night, I haven't left since." She said pushing her hair from her face.

"Have you gotten sleep?"

"No, he needs rest and someone to stay with him. He can’t be alone again. He can’t." The healer then looked to her.

"I don't think your team would appreciate the loss of two of their fighters." Beth looked back, a bit of shame towered over her. "Exhaustion and war do not make the best combination."

"I'm not going to leave him." The healer put down his tools and sat next to Beth.

"This isn't your fault, and it is not your problem to fix. Right now, I am giving him all the care and companionship he needs. I am going to ask you politely once, but after that, grace will no longer be offered. You need to dismiss yourself, and I need to work to save your friend."

Beth narrowed her eyes, looking from Chaess to the healer. Slowly she rose from her chair, she didn't want to leave. But, she obeyed the healer. She could hardly walk, much less make the trek to her cabin though it wasn't too far. She instead walked to the stables where she curled up in the corner of her stall and fell asleep quicker than she had ever before.

*~*

Beth woke to the sight of Noeh shaking her body senseless. Tears streaming down his face, before he said a word. She knew. They'd killed Chaess Belleza.

She couldn't even hear what Noeh was saying through his aggressive sobbing, the world was moving in slow motion, she couldn't hear, she couldn't speak she couldn't move. She felt the very essence of herself being sucked out of her, she felt the heart in her chest shattering into a million irrecoverable pieces. The world was a blur. Her arms and legs refused to listen to her mind. She was overwhelmed with a whirlwind of thousands of different emotions, each nailing into with the strong arm and hammer of suffocating grief. She felt strange things deep inside her bones, things that ached to come out. For some reason, she wanted to let them out, part of her felt like she was supposed to. But the agony consumed her. She fought every last urge to snap Noeh's neck for bearing such news to her. Even though she knew it wasn't his fault- it was hers. She was so angry at herself, she knew she should've stayed with Chaess. Beth's entire body shook, she knew she needed something. She needed help, she needed-- She didn't even know what she needed, not until he came.

*~*

Once Noeh had told him where to find Beth, Ander couldn't control his body from sprinting to the stables where Beth's emotionless body lay in a mess of straw and pine shavings. There were tears streaming down her face, but she wasn't crying, not that he could tell. Her face looked as though it had been turn to stone, as though she had reached her point of no return. He slowly moved to her, and brushed a thumb across her cheek. Death. Death had torn her spirit, her loving, adventurous, beautiful spirit. She had been destroyed by the death and betrayal of most of her family, all she had was her mother. And now, here death was, clawing its black, cold hands through her life once again. His Beth-- she was being destroyed more again.

"Beth," He whispered to her, her eyes lifted, emotion filling her face like the air filled her lungs the night she surfaced on the lake. She sobbed, her face distorted, he could tell that there were more emotions than even she was aware of coursing through her like water in a river. Despite how much he wanted to run, he pulled her body close. She hid her face in his chest, the emotions pouring out of her like a hurricane of mass destruction, she cried until she couldn't bare to cry any longer.

"He's dead." She cried under breath.

"I know," He said softly stroking her hair and holding her close. "I know."

"Ander," She sobbed, he pulled her closer.

"It's okay, you're going to be okay."

"I need to see him." She shook from his grip, "I need to see him!" She screamed.

"Beth, you don't want to see him like that." He tried to calm her.

"Please." He stared into her tear filled eyes, he saw the utter desperation that now consumed her. He stood from his spot and offered a hand to her. Together they walked from the stables to a hole on the edge of the forest far from where they had visited before. Ander looked to Beth who was observing the body in the ground with her red-rimmed eyes. She stopped walking and dropped to her knees, staring at the lifeless corpse of her friend lying before her.  Around her stood the rest of her team, but she didn't even notice. Beth was too focused, on the boy in the grave, the boy who had been hurt on her watch, died because she wasn’t there to save him. She blamed herself.

Flashbacks flooded her mind with all the few memories she had with and of Chaess Belleza. Her body was like stone, unable to move. Her heart felt as if it was being crushed beneath the weight of the entire world that had been nothing short of cruel to her for those past few years. She sat, unmovable until finally, her body unleashed all of her pain and strife in a long array of screams. The startled boys huddled around her. She felt two bodies against hers, but didn't bother to look to see who, her body crumbled in their arms. Her screams hollowed into vicious sobs, still held by the two boys, she gathered a fist full of earth that had been dug to make room for Chaess's lifeless body and threw it with every ounce of power she could muster into the hole that would forever haunt her memory.

*~*

Noeh squeezed his eyes shut as he and Ander tried to move Beth from her spot aside their dead comrade. He knew her better than he had known anyone, and to see her in that kind of pain was torture. He was well aware that she could rip all of them to shreds in a matter of seconds if she so desired. She was the best warrior he had ever faced. Beth was a force; a force that no one should have dared to oppose. He felt for the men that would be slaughtered in the wake of her pain. He sometimes wondered if she was capable of more than she let on.

Her body shuddered and trembled as they pulled her further and further away from the grave. Noeh figured they would bring her back when it was time to give Chaess honor through a warrior’s farewell ceremony. Usually, the ceremonies would consist of two commanders in the infantry, one male and one female, singing a tributary song. Considering the circumstance, Noeh was unsure of how that would result.

"The stables." Ander grunted as Beth fought against his grip.

"What about them?" Noeh asked.

"That's where I found her, we can take her there until she calms down."

"Why not the commons?"

"Because," Ander started with obvious irritation. "Stables are comforting for her and she won't be bombarded, or reminded by pools of blood stains on the floor."

Noeh went along with Ander's suggestion, though he wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea that Ander could just waltz in and assume he knows better for Beth. Noeh was there when Ander was not. Ander left her, he hurt her. And Noeh comforted her, he helped her through it, he listened to her. Beth never cried, not in front of anyone but Noeh. Ander hurt her. He had no right to swoop in like some knight and steal her heart away.

*~*

Ander guided Noeh into Beth's chosen stall and gently set the sobbing girl on the ground. She stayed, wiping the tears from her eyes with the same bloodstained suit she's worn the day before.

"I'm sorry." She managed.

"Don't apologize," Noeh said kneeling beside her. Ander laid a hand on his shoulder and nodded his head, looking at Beth one last time.

"I am going to plan the ceremony, if you need me she will know where to find me." He swallowed a sob as he bolted from the stables. He sprinted through bushes, around trees, under branches, and over roots and fallen trees until he reached the very spot him and Beth had spoken for the first time in this now familiar place. Ander dropped to his knees and cried out with all the pain and anger this day had burdened him with. Losing one of his men, facing the anger of Quinn and Peitre when they heard of Chaess's fate, but mostly Beth. Seeing Beth like that again was the worst experience imaginable, behind the first time. The first time. Kallide. The very thought of losing Beth's older sister sent a shudder down his spine. Beth was no more than twelve years old when her sister was murdered by a Dumar man during a village raid. That was at the beginning of this war. A war that Ander and Beth had every intention of winning. Kallide hadn't yet turned eighteen when that swine stole her life from her. Kallide's death devastated Beth, and Ander couldn't even imagine what it must've been like to be in her place. Ander gathered himself, brushing the dirt and debris from his knees, and walked out of the woods leaving nothing but tears in his wake.

Ander planned Chaess's ceremony, though it was not easy. He'd grown so close to his team, and having to bury one of them was something he hadn't wanted to think about. The first few deaths hadn't even been entirely difficult, he hadn't even learned their names. For that, he felt awful. He was finishing the speech of remembrance when he eyed an approaching silhouette. He was surprised to see that Noeh had his furious eyes fixed on Ander.

"She asked for you." Noeh grumbled.

"Thanks, could you look over this? It's for Chaess's ceremony."

"Whatever." Noeh grabbed hold of the paper, Ander gripped his arm and yanked him closer.

"Cut this act, or I will cut you." He promised.

"What about your act, Ander? What, you think you can just jump right back into her life and be her hero? Her long lost lover? You can't Ander. She doesn't care about you. She hasn't forgotten what you've done to her. You hurt her."

"Oh right, because what she needs is for you to be picking fights over her. Quit being a child and instead be her friend." Ander paused, anger turning to spite. "But, if I recall correctly she has called for me when you were already at her side. Goodbye Noeh."

"Don't get close to her." He snarled.

"You're going to stop me?"

"If I need to." Noeh straightened his posture.

"I dare you." Ander whispered viciously as he turned away from Noeh and strolled back to the stables as though the little exchange had never happened.

*~*

By the time Ander had arrived, Beth was still crouched in the corner, she was still sad, but she was no longer crying. Beth was glad that he was finally there, something about him always calmed her, even though Noeh tried his best to make it seem otherwise. She wasn't sure what was up with him, ever since he discovered who Ander was he had been different, and she didn't like that. She looked to Ander as he leaned his body along the post of the doorway.

"You okay?" He asked her tilting his head.

"I will be." She managed with a hint of a smile.

"I'm sorry, Beth."

"I know." Beth choked as she looked to the ground before her.

"For everything." Ander sat beside the girl who looked still distant. "I mean it, Beth. I'm sorry." She lifted her eyes to his as he looked at the bland wall before them and whispered with a frail voice.

"Thank you." She slipped back into silence, staring into those deep green eyes for more moments than she could count, "Ander, I want to sing the Tribute. I want to sing it with you."

Ander's head turned so fast that it sent a shooting pain down his spine, yet it didn't faze him. He looked to Beth, unsure of whether she was being serious or if she was just making a rash decision, her face told it all. She had thought about it, she was sure.

"Beth, you don't have to do this you know."

"I want to."

"Okay." He said standing from his spot beside her and extending a hand to her. "You and me, Donoway."

Beth stared at his hand, tears forming in her eyes, and finally put her hand on his, "Me and you, Rockwell."

*~*

When Beth woke the following morning, the cabin was quiet. She noticed then that the only other person in the cabin was Noeh, and he was looking right at her.

"Hey there, sunshine. I was about to wake you." He said tenderly walking away from her bunk. "It's almost time."

Beth nodded, dread of the day ahead setting into her bones. She wasn't ready for the pain she would feel, for the celebrating of a life, the death of a friend. She had never liked the ceremonies even if she didn't know the one who had lost their life. She only hoped it wouldn't be as bad as Kallide's ceremony. Trying to avoid the memories, Beth moved to her armory to look for an appropriate gown for such a mournful occasion. Her eyes glazed over dresses and suits of every color and style until she set them upon a black silk and lace gown. She observed the lace and how it spun down the skirt in long finger-like patterns, the upper part of the dress was laced with silver and stretched down the sleeves. She pulled the dress from the armory and shimmied into it. The dress seemed as though it was designed specifically for Beth, and she wished it hadn't been this kind of occasion that brought the two together. She turned and breathed deeply in an attempt to calm the beating heart that was wild in her chest.

"You look, wow, you look great, Beth." Noeh managed to say, a bit of nerves apparent in his speech. She remained cold in expression and gestured toward the door. "Yes, yes let's go."

*~*

     Noeh couldn't rip his eyes from the stunning girl walking before him. The dress she was wearing lined every curve of her body, accentuating every one of her finest features. Her golden hair swayed elegantly down the small of her back. Any male that wasn't attracted to her had to be either blind or stupid. She was flawless.

     Ahead of them, Noeh could see her eyes fix on Ander. When she laid a hand on his shoulder, she seemed almost scared to do it. Noeh could understand why, there was still damage there, still hostility as much as they tried to hide it. They still weren't comfortable around each other, that was a good thing to Noeh. As selfish as it seemed, he wanted her nowhere near Ander. The fact that she still reached for him was rather infuriating. He would not let her open up to Ander. He couldn't let that happen.

"A warrior has fallen." Stievan started. "A warrior that showed undeniable bravery, skill, cunning, and power until his final breath." Quinn then quoted the warrior's code, and gestured back to Stievan. 

"Chaess Belleza. A man of strength, dignity, and in his case, childlike quirks. Chaess was truly the life of base. While he was a great warrior with no restraints on the battlefield, he was gentle and so kind off the field. Such skill that Chaess displayed were skills that could not be taught in any training. Chaess was born to be a warrior, and a warrior he was. Warrior. Protector. Friend. We honor you, Chaess Belleza."

     Stievan and Quinn each took a handful of dirt and tossed it over the already covered grave. Ander and Beth exchanged a glance and stepped toward the grave. She hesitantly extended a hand to Ander, and after a glance from her face to her hand, he laced his fingers in hers. Noeh's eyes narrowed at Ander, remaining still. He had gone too far.

*~*

     Fingers entwined with Beth's, Ander began to sing. The warrior's tribute was written in the ancient tongue of Delahonte and only taught to those who were destined to be leaders. Ander and Beth had learned the piece together so many years prior, at the ages of eight and nine. Elvesta Sloyette took them into Mansford to be trained professionally for the song, she had seen so much potential in the two. Ander counted it a shame when she passed, he wasn't sure if Beth even knew.

     The blend of the two voices was simply breathtaking. Despite the emotions Ander could feel beating from Beth’s skin, she sang with the voice of pure beauty and perfection, flowing alongside the wind. A voice that almost seemed unreal. Each of their harmonies carried through the air with such grace and fluidity. As the final words sent from their lips into the warm air, the two put opposite hands on their chest to honor the brave soul lost that now rested six feet in the ground before them.

*~*

     As much as he didn't want to admit it, Noeh had never heard two voices that coalesced so well together. He'd never heard Beth's voice, and he wished he had before. He almost wondered why she wasn't a performer for the King and the Quill. Although, for Beth to do something like that would mean containing her from a fight for so long. That wouldn't happen. She was never a connoisseur to attention, it wouldn't matter if she could actually refrain from a fight. 

     Noeh watched as the two stood hand-in-hand watching the grave as they tossed two blood red pebbles onto the grave, a closing ritual to honor the final goodbye to their comrade and friend. The six of them together left the graveside. Noeh was sure that today was going to be full of loathing and death on the battlefield. The six had just lost one of their own, there would be no mercy. He would be sure to stay out of Beth's way.

 *~*

    Beth managed to twist her body into the new battle suit that had apparently arrived while she was sleeping. The suit was considerably tighter yet had more places to conceal weapons. It was also much easier to maneuver despite the snug fit. It was as if she slipped a black, lethal, layer of skin over her own. With this suit, there was no measurement to the type of deadly she was feeling. She embraced it.

     Beth armed herself with two swords and her favorite daggers, she was only interested in the intimacy of slicing through the skins of her enemies with only the silver extensions of her arms. She hadn't thought about who she would now partner with. It hadn't been long for her to simply have a partner before his life was ripped away from him. She didn't even want to think about it until she had a throat to slash. She would be glad to disembowel any person that crossed her the wrong way.

     Once she arrived at the bus, the boys turned to her.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm fine, let's go." Beth growled as she started to the bus, turning away from the boys.

"Beth, wait." Ander called after her, grabbing her elbow, "You need someone to go with you."

"What, you think I can't handle myself just because Chaess isn't here?" She pulled a dagger from her sleeve. "Well, Ander, records say I'll be just fine." Beth smiled and watched the blade in her hands as she shifted it against the sun's light.

"I have no doubt that you can handle yourself, but that doesn't make it safe. You are too emotional right now and one little slip will have you killed. You cannot die. You will not go alone."

"Fine, Captain." She bowed mockingly at Ander and smiled a vicious smile. "Your wish is my command. Anyone care to join me in my hunt?"

She looked to Pietre, Quinn, and Stievan who were shaking their heads so violently it made her laugh. Ander and Noeh however seemed unfazed by Beth's cruel behavior.

"And how about you, gentlemen?" She challenged loosely waving her knife between Ander and Noeh. "I won't bite."

"I will." Ander met to her surprise.

"No, you will not." Noeh growled. "I'm going with you."

"Now, boys, save the hostility for the battlefield." She laughed the boys sat in silence. "Well, I could just go alone." She slowly started to strut away.

"She goes with you." Ander said, noticeably regretful of his decision.

"Very well. Off we go, boys." She shouted with the most devilish of tones.

Ander watched as the group started to stalk to the bus. He pulled Noeh back, and vowed so that only he could hear, "If she is hurt when I next see her, you can count on a beating so bad that your own mother won't be able to recognize you. Am I clear?"

"Crystal." Noeh grumbled.

*~*

     If it wasn't for Beth, Noeh would've broken Ander's nose for speaking to him in such a way. Noeh loathed him. To Noeh, Ander was always the demon from Beth's past that damaged her beyond repair. All that time Noeh had spent trying to open Beth back up to the world, now being wasted on him returning. He had no right to come back and try to protect her now, not after he left her for so many years. He had no right to try to gain the trust of the woman he destroyed. It was infuriating for Noeh to watch the woman he loved fawn over the man who destroyed everything she was. Noeh hadn't even known her before Ander, but he was sure that he would still feel the same way regardless, and he was sure that Ander did not deserve her.

     Beth was fierce on the battlefield, a ruthless force that would stop at nothing to achieve whatever goals she had her mind and heart set on. She seemed as though she was no longer human. And that day, her goal was to slaughter, which is exactly what she did. Noeh watched in awe as she carved her blade into the bodies of soldiers barreling towards her. The men she killed in a matter of minutes was almost double than what some warriors had killed in an entire day. She was fire, devouring every ounce of life there was. Burning men to ashes. Noeh made it a point to stay out of range of her blade, because although they were working together, a raging Beth was no one to be close to.

     Noeh was suddenly overwhelmed as he drew his second sword trying to fend off the increasing number of soldiers flooding into their region. There were more soldiers than he had ever seen in one place on this battlefield, and before he even knew what was happening, Beth was gone.

"Beth!" He called, slicing a man's arm off of his body. "Beth!"

     Noeh scrambled through the now dissipating army, whirling and twisting his body and weapons so violently that he didn't feel like himself.

"Beth!" He wailed, gripping the swords tightly in his hands, seeing nothing but a forest full of death before him.

*~*

     All he heard was her name, that was enough to have him sprinting to her region, so fast that he could feel his body aching against this speed he had never even tried to reach. He continued to torture his body until he found Noeh standing in the middle of the forest running frantically screaming her name.

"Where is she?" He growled. "What happened?"

"Do you think I'd be like this if I knew?" Noeh choked on his words, tears forming in his eyes and flowing out in steady streams.

"What did you do?" Ander drew a dagger and lunged for Noeh, trapping him between himself and a tree.

"I- It- I-" Noeh swallowed hard against the dagger pressed to his throat.

"I should kill you." Ander's reddened and his face twisted.

"Kill me or find her." The two stared at each other for a long second before Ander pushed Noeh's body to the ground.

"Which way?"

     Noeh pointed in the direction he had last seen Beth, the only logical direction she could have been taken. Ander lost his control as he sprinted in the direction Noeh had pointed, he had both swords drawn throwing his body past trees and brush, over logs, under branches, any obstacle was no problem for him because it was all for Beth. He wouldn't waste so much time and energy on anything else, no matter what she had done. If he didn't find her, he'd keep searching until he did. His hope was just starting to diminish when he found the tracks. Eight, maybe ten, sets of above average sized men shoes and one set considerably smaller than the rest. It had to be, but then again, how would Beth get into such a situation? He didn't have another option. He followed the tracks.

*~*

     She wasn't entirely sure what was happening. The men had covered her eyes with cloth, and tied another cloth around her mouth that had been drenched with some liquid that made her drowsy and disoriented. Her hearing, however, had improved drastically. She could hear every rustle of the leaves, every breath of the men surrounding her, and every deceptive whisper of the wind. She decided it was best not to say a word as the men dragged her limp body through the woods. It wasn't until they threw her body to the ground that someone decided to speak. Despite how long had it been since she had been taught the Dumarian language she could still remember.

"What do we do with her now?" Asked the soldier who had hold of her left arm.

"Kill her? Or," asked one so close to her face she could feel his breath, as he ran a finger down her cheek. "Something better?" She flinched away from his touch, the men laughing at her.

     She could hear movement, and although she couldn't see, she still sensed that they were circling her. If she didn't get out soon, she may very well be their prey.

"She can't even defend herself." The man who spoke kicked her in her side, she yelped with the surprise and pain.

"Where's your father this time, princess?" Her heart dropped at the sound of the word, another kick. She could feel her face flush, fear worse than any she had ever faced boiled beneath her skin. A large hand yanked her hair back, cruel breath fell hot on her neck.

"She calls herself a warrior," the man chuckled softly as she heard a dagger being unsheathed, maybe his. "And yet, here she is, nothing more than a toy." He drawled.

Cold metal pressed to her cheek, the width of a blade threatening her skin. The blade shifted and she winced at blood welling in the spot the blade once occupied. A stream of blood carried down her jaw, followed by a single tear.

"Oh no, I- I think we've hurt her." A man falsely sympathized and laughed at his own ruthless behavior as he punched Beth's blood covered face. Her body fell to the ground from the impact of the blow.

"No, you don't. I didn't tell you to lie down, did I, princess?" The man dragged her pain stricken body up to a crouching position.

"I think," Another man started, "That the princess wants more." He dragged a blade down her back, enough to break cloth and skin.

Beth felt a calloused hand reaching through the tear in her suit, exploring her bare, exposed, and vulnerable skin. She tried to squirm away, she tried to break free but another hand joined the first as others held her body from freedom.

"If you touch her, you will die. If you look at her, you will die. If you so much as breathe another breath you will die. Either way, you will not see another day on this damned earth." Ander barked in the Dumarian language. Before she knew what was going on she heard metal smashing against metal and a hand dragging her backwards, she screamed Ander's name, the hand pulling her went limp. Silence.

"Ander?" She croaked, the pain of her wounds and bruises overwhelming her. A hand, a gentle hand rested on her cheek, another pulled the blindfold and mouth cloth away. Ander's tear soaked eyes lined with hers.

*~*

Relief washed over him like a waterfall. Involuntary tears streamed down his face. He was so afraid of what he would find at the end of those tracks, or what he wouldn't. He had never felt so afraid, it was one thing for Beth to be away from him. But for her to be gone? That thought was unbearable.

"We need to go, more soldiers could be nearby, and you need a healer." Ander whispered to her gently, as he released the tie around her hands. His hands slipped beneath her arms and around her waist helping her to her feet. Together the two struggled through the woods, avoiding any and all contact with others until they reached the bus.

*~*

Beth was not entirely focused when her and Ander had reached the bus, but even someone who was both blind and deaf could sense the hostility between Ander and Noeh. The two had nothing but hate radiating from their core as they glared at each other with eyes that held an uncanny desire to kill. She knew why. Noeh couldn't keep a leash on her, Noeh failed the one thing Ander trusted him to do, so Ander is taking her away. They infuriated each other, anyone could see that.

"Send for a healer." Ander said to Noeh.

"Okay but I'm-"

"You have done enough." Beth cut in, giving Noeh the look that he knew all too well. The only difference was, she made the face to avoid a lashing between him and Ander.

Noeh left, and Beth was thankful for that, but she was also slightly surprised. She never would've thought it to be that easy.

*~*

Ander was unsure if the healer was actually helping Beth. The distress he had been witnessing was painful to watch, and yet the healer claimed she was ready to return to battle by the following morning. But, knowing Beth she'd more likely sleep than fight after an event like that. Beth was a force, but when it came to trauma, she always seemed to want to sleep it off.

Her day had been literal hell. She first had to deal with the sorrow of attending the ceremony of loss of her friend and partner, only then to get kidnapped because of an asshat who was supposed to keep an eye on her, and finally further tortured by a so-called healer. Ander could not wrap his mind around how it must've felt. All of those things to rise against in a matter of sixteen hours. It was unfair.

"Ander." Beth muttered when the healer was out of the room.

"I'm here, I'm right here." Ander whispered softly brushing a hair from the girl's face as tears began to fall. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's not much to talk about." She breathed, Ander noticed something wasn’t right.

"That's okay, you don't have to." Ander pulled the corner of his mouth up. "They are dead anyway."

"Thank you, Ander." She smiled the best she could behind the swollen and discolored skin.

"Hey, I've got your back Donoway." He looked at her, trying to figure out why she still seemed off, seemed afraid.

"Ander," He looked at her, the change in her voice changing his expression. "They know who I am."

Ander's eyes widened as they settled back on Beth, her eyes meeting his. Fear, almost as bad as the fear of Beth being kidnapped. Fear because Beth no longer had leverage. Fear because Beth was now in danger. Fear because Dumarian soldiers know that Calline Ellyzibeth Mansford is alive.

*~*

She always assumed no one would discover her secret. Hoped really. She had been so young when her mother left Isaac, he hadn't been King for very long. He was a horrible father, but an even worse husband. Beth had been lucky, she was too young to really know the depth of evil he showed his family. He had abused both her and her mother for years, and of course gotten away with it. The country viewed Isaac as good, strong, perfect. He was their leader, they wanted him to be that way. So to them he was, but behind closed doors, he was a monster. He is a monster. But his Commanding Soldier was not. That's why he let them go against the king’s orders, to protect them from not only the king, but also from Dumar. He helped them and the others attain new lives and identities that would hide them and keep them from ever being discovered. Instead of Calline Elyzibeth Mansford, she became Beth Donaway. She moved from the castle in Mansford to the small village town of Humes where she and Ander, Emylee, and Jaq’s families settled, where she decided to fight, where she made a new life for herself. A life that she knew would never be fit for a princess, a life that was created to take away that part of her life. But it was also a life that left her fatherless, a life that forced to forget a prior life of royalty, a life with a brother, a life with wealth. 

Beth became someone new the day she and her mother left the kingdom. She was okay with that. But now, she was afraid that the life she left behind would soon catch back up to her. If Dumar knew where she was, it would be easy for her father to find her as well. She had never been afraid before, but suddenly she was. 

*~*

Ander woke the next morning more exhausted than he had been when he'd fallen asleep. That was no surprise to him, he was more surprised that siren hadn't gone off. He muscled his body out of his bunk and searched his cabin for the others who were, of course, nowhere to be seen. After the news he had received yesterday, he wouldn't be surprised if they were forming some sort of escape for Beth, but then he also knew that not even they knew her true identity. She would risk her life telling them.

Ander moved out of the cabin, his eyes not easily adjusting to the sun. Stretching his tired limbs, he walked to the Common Building where he found the others.

"Hey Ander-O! No death bell today!" Peitre called from across the room, bits of food flying everywhere, he seemed drunk.

"Chew. Swallow. Never call me that again."

"Well, someone didn't get laid last night."

"And you did?" Beth retorted from her spot on the sofa, Peitre put his hands in the air.

"Easy there, princess. It was just a joke."

"Don't call me that." She barked.

"Damn, what is up with you people and nicknames?" Peitre mumbled as he flopped onto the sofa next to Noeh, who didn't so much as raise his head, and took a gulp of alcohol from a little silver flask.

Ander and Beth looked to each other from across the room, the anger in their eyes soon faded into the confusion they had been so badly trying to hide. Ander had so much trouble trying to figure out what was on her mind, she had never been the kind of person to show emotion, yet he always saw right through her fronts. He couldn't any more.

"Hello, soldiers." An unknown voice called over the speakers in the ceiling, "Battle has been placed on temporary withdraw put into effect by Dumar. The Dumarian soldiers have raised their white flag and requested immediate contact with the Quill, therefore battle comes to a stalemate." Ander and Beth looked to each other eyes wide. "In the meantime, we expect nothing but training from you. We have left new weapons and- supplies, for lack of a better term- in the stables. We hope to see you prosper, and prove your worth. Good luck." A triple tone beep sounded from the speakers and the six, excited for their new weapons, lunged for the door.

Ander was surprised to see even Beth spring off the sofa, whatever that healer had tortured her with must’ve worked, she seemed giddy as if the prior day hadn’t even happened. He watched as the wild teenagers pulled the door to the stable open, greeted by some of the most terrifying horse brays he'd ever heard. In amazement, he ran to join his team and beheld the sight of six beautiful horses snorting and stomping in the stables.

"You may not choose the animal. The animal may choose you." Ander read from the banner hanging in the aisle.

"It says that we let them out into the field and they will come to us." Quinn said.

"They have names." Beth said, a smile on her face. "This one here," She pointed to a dark grey horse, "Achilles, male. This one," she moved to the next stall that held a brown horse with a white stripe on its face. "Zandra, female." She moved to the next where a golden horse with white mane and tail stood tall, "Apollo, fitting. Male." She crossed the isle to the next stall where a light grey horse stood still as a rock. "Kamau, female." Next was a red-orange colored horse, smaller than the rest, "Finnegan, male." She reached the final stall, her stall, where a jet black horse stood, nostrils flared. "Calypso, female."

“How long is this supposed to take, exactly?” Noeh grumbled.

"We have time." Ander nodded to Stievan and Quinn who dipped their heads and departed to either side of the stable, releasing the horses into the pasture. He smiled at Beth, "Today, you and I get a little piece of home." The remaining four walked to the pasture to join Steivan and Quinn.

*~*

The six spread themselves out in the pasture. Noeh hated the idea of a filthy, wretched animal choosing him. In his opinion, man is to be dominant and man is to choose. Not the other way around. He had never liked animals. Any of them, what is the big deal about some dirty, loud, and dangerous shitter that licks its own ass for fun. But still he sat, waiting for an animal to somehow choose him. In the pasture he saw the horses running like savages. Neighing viciously, rearing up on their hind legs, kicking the air and each other, snorting, pawing the ground, being animals. He didn't understand why he and his five had to sit and wait for one of the disgusting creatures to calm down long enough to choose them.

*~*

Beth sat quietly watched the beautiful creatures run and stretch their legs. She couldn't stop, and she knew Ander had his eyes fixed on her. She was fascinated, and for once at peace. The creatures in front of her could kill her in a second, but she didn't care. They were the most magnificent things she had ever seen, so fierce and strong. Living powerfully, like nothing and no one could ever stop them.

It must’ve been hours before horses calmed. They were standing in a perfect line in the middle of the pasture, one stepped forward, the small gelding, Finnegan. He walked to Stievan and sniffed him, shook his head and trotted to Quinn the horse stopped and sniffed the air in front of him, Quinn held out a hand. The horse neighed and trotted on, he was about to pass Noeh but then he stopped. He stared Noeh in the eye, and unlike anything she had ever seen lowered his head, eyes closed, and let out a sigh. The horse laid down beside Noeh, he had chosen. The other five clapped as Noeh scowled and looked at the horse that was now nudging his elbow, with a look of pure disgust Noeh laid a hand on the horse’s head and bore a fake smile.

The next horse stepped out. Zandra whinnied delicately and pranced about as if she were a show pony. She was in front of Peitre when he laughed, she halted and fiercely neighed in his face as if he were trying to kill her. The frightened boy nearly pissed himself trying to crawl away from the horse. The satisfied creature perked her ears forward and continued on prancing to Quinn where she too bowed her head and laid beside him.

"I think I'm going to like her." Quinn laughed to Peitre who was still trying to catch his breath. The others couldn't help but laugh as well.

 Apollo was next. He confidently strode out, it took him no time to choose.  He didn't hesitate a moment, the second he moved was the moment he chose. He chose Stievan. Next was Achilles, he watched all of us, as if he were still considering choosing someone the others had already chosen. He moved forward, one slow step after another right toward Noeh and Finnegan. But he stopped, turned, and galloped to Ander halting on the snap of finger and lowered his head. Achilles chose Ander.

Last was the beautiful jet black horse who'd been in Beth's stall. The horse walked directly to Beth, but instead of bowing her head as the others did. She bowed onto a knee, Beth had never seen such a thing. The horse looked Beth in the eye, Beth reached out and ran a hand down the horse’s long, dark face.

*~*

The Six and their horses stood from the ground, and with this day of freedom they decided to let loose and go for a ride with their new steeds. Ander and Beth were the only two that knew how to tack horses. So they were the ones who taught the other four. It was awkward really, the tension between Noeh and Beth when she was trying to teach him how to tie and tighten the cinch on the saddle. Quinn watched as she awkwardly squirmed away when he got to close, everyone knew what had happened between Noeh and Ander, but the fact that Beth was acting so off was strange to him. He couldn't help but think there was more to the situation than they let on. But one thing was for sure, Noeh was in love with her, you could just see it written across his face, in his eyes. He wanted her.

When all six horses were tacked with the gear they had found in the stables, they set off into the woods. Ander and Beth of course were at the head of the group, closely followed by Pietre and Noeh, and holding up the rear were Stievan and Quinn. They were spread enough to have separate conversations that could not be heard by the others.

"What do you think is going on with Beth and Ander?" Quinn asked Stievan.

"Meaning?" 

"You know, like are they a thing?" 

"I overheard Pietre and Noeh, sure seems like it from their point of view. I mean, Noeh is pretty worked up about it. In his own, kind of way."

"Okay, what's Noeh doing?"

"Dude, he's got a thing for Beth. Beth hates him, and Noeh thinks that is because of Ander. But if you ask me, she's got it out for him on her own accord. He hadn’t been doing much, just being awkward as hell. Then there was the whole thing where she got kidnapped while they were partnered."

"So you think, there's another reason she's pissed at him?"

"I'm definitely not saying there isn't. I don't know, but it sure seems like she has her own reasons. If you ask me, that girl has secrets."

"Do you trust her?"

"Of course, I'm just saying there is something she's not telling us."

"We all have secrets."

"Yes, that's true, but I think her secret is more than just any old secret." 

"How so?" 

"I think her secret could cost her."

"Could you be any more dramatic? You're worse than my sisters." Quinn scoffed at Stievan.

"I'm just saying," He paused loosening his reins and looking ahead to Ander and Beth. "Something isn't right. I just don’t know what."

*~*

Beth had never looked so full of light, Noeh had seen her happy, just never to that extent. Such pure and thorough joy flowed through her fingers and the ends of her bright hair. She shined with the joy she had been missing for so long, but he knew that the joy wasn't only from the majestic beast. He watched the way she looked at Ander, the way she melted when he got close. She loved him, she would be a fool to deny it.  Noeh was convinced that he deserved her love more than Ander did. Ander left her when she was vulnerable and in pain, Noeh was there to comfort her and make her feel whole again. He deserved to be loved by her, not Ander. Who does he think he is? Breaking a girl's heart just to reclaim her only to one day break it again. He thought. How selfish can he be? He can't possibly care for her. If he did he would leave her for good and never show his face in front of her again. Can't he see how she is around him? Can't he see how badly it is hurting her?

The Six continued on for hours, learning about their horses and bonding with them. After a few miles, they stopped at a creek so that the horses could drink. In those moments, Noeh slipped off into the woods with his horse. He leaned on the horse's neck and whispered.

"I don't know your name, but I promise I will figure it out if you get me the hell away from them without making me eat the dirt." The horse stood unresponsive. "Hello. Horse."

Noeh kicked his legs and shouted for Finnegan to listen, who in response tossed Noeh off of his back and snorted. Noeh angrily wiped the dirt from his body and was standing from the ground when the rest of the Six had gathered around him.

"What are you doing down there?" Quinn asked with a grin.

"Not funny, you ass. Help me get back on this thing."

"Don't." Beth said. "Call him a thing, fine. You learn on your own. Let's go." She raised her eyebrows and turned Calypso back towards base, followed by the rest of the Six.

"Guys seriously?" Noeh shouted watching everyone as they left, and looking to Stievan who stayed behind a moment longer than the rest.

"Sorry dude, we don't want to get on her bad side." He shrugged as he clucked and Apollo picked up his speed to rejoin the rest of the group.

Noeh scoffed and walked to Finnegan who backed away from him. Noeh stood frustrated and watched the horse flick his ears at Noeh.

"Is this funny for you? Because it's not for me." Finnegan nickered and stomped his feet, prancing around.

Noeh jumped towards the horse who stepped to the side whinnying, Noeh slowly became less frustrated and more entertained at the game the two were playing.

"Fine, I'll just go back by myself." He turned around and smirked, the horse snorted and pounded a hoof into the ground in response.

"Bye now." Noeh taunted and started to walk away, soon nudged on the shoulder by the creature.

"That's what I thought." He face the horse, grabbing onto his reins and smiling, "Don't be a jerk this time, got it?"

Finnegan snorted. Noeh laughed and tried to mount onto the horse, only to fall back to the ground. He attempted several times, each time failing. He looked around the forest to find anything to help, conveniently, he found a stump. He stood on the stump and struggled to get Finnegan to stand still long enough to mount him. Finally, Noeh hoisted himself onto the saddle falling to the opposite side. He sat up on the ground, once again frustrated. Finnegan reached his muzzle down to him, nudging him softly. Noeh tried once again and succeeded at last. He clicked his heels against the horse's side and struggle to hold on as the horse trotted through the forest, bouncing him all around in the saddle. Soon they happened upon a clearing, Finnegan noticeably increased the speed and length of his gait. Noeh, knowing the horse was going to soon send him soaring into the air, held on for dear life. Finnegan took that as a sign to race, and that he did. The horse galloped through the open field, stretching his legs and neighing with joy. Noeh, on the other hand, was pale and frightened beyond his wits that he would soon meet the ground in harsh impact. He figured he would need more practice before he tried to ride into war.

Somehow, this huge terrifying beast between his legs made him feel more confident. The more he rode on, the more unstoppable he felt. He was still terrified nonetheless. Soon, he and his steed reached the place where they would finally get rest. Noeh searched the camp for the others, he decided that they were probably in the commons. He was slightly agitated that the others hadn't waited for him. He took his time untacking Finnegan, though he wasn't sure why. He felt oddly compelled to be around the animal, maybe it gave him entitlement. Then again, he wasn't the only one with a horse.

"We were wondering when you would finally decide to come back." He heard Pietre say.

"Not like I had anyone to help me find the way."

"Can you blame us?"

For a moment, Noeh thought he was kidding. "Yes. I most definitely can."

"Aw," Pietre made a mocking face, "Did someone get their feelings hurt?"

Noeh threw a boot at Pietre. "Do you want something or are you just here to be a prick?"

"Ouch, that stung. I'm just trying to put some things together."

"What kind of things?" Noeh said pushing past Pietre to stow his tack away.

"The kind of things that make you act like a dickhead."

"Why does that matter to you?"

"Because I don't want you to risk the lives of your team for some worthless feelings."

"Worthless?"

 "You know she doesn't feel the same way you do, right?"

 "You know that you're making no sense, right?"

 "You can't even deny it, Noeh, you're a fool to try."

"Drop it. We are not discussing this. You bring it up again and you're finished."

"This is exactly what I'm talking about."

"I said drop it." Noeh yelled and stormed off. 

Chapter Seven

Dear Diary,

  Me again, well you'd never believe the things I've seen. The things I've been through since my last entry. I'm starting to see how cruel and ruthless the world really is. Growing up, my mother always told me that the world was a scary place, I guess I never ventured a thought to her words. Oh my mother, she doesn't even know what I've done. She has no idea that her little darling is now a murderer, though she could probably have guessed it by now. What have I gotten myself into? First, I volunteer my life to this place, and now not only am I a cold-blooded killer, but now Ander?

Oh right, Diary, Ander is here. He's here. Like in the cabin less than 100 yards away from mine. The last time I saw him was two years ago. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. I still love him, you know. I can't stop staring at him sometimes, like some creepy little stalker freak. And like an even more obsessive creepy stalker freak, I blurted my story to Noeh. I mean, he's my best friend here, and if I trust anyone it would be him. But I doubt Ander's walking around telling people how he feels. If he even feels anything.

I'm changing the subject, I can hardly handle myself right now, not to mention what I'm putting you through. Want to know something odd about this place? There's an empty stables. Why have such a beautiful building without at least putting pictures inside. But no, that place is so dead I don't even think there are mice. And apparently, that is a lot to say for a barn. You know diary, I'm starting to get suspicious about this place. On top of the above list of horrors I have dealt with, the showers are in the commons and there are two rooms of three showers, but the doors don't lock, problem being I am one girl amongst six boys. 

I went on a walk today. On any other day, I would’ve been happy for Noeh to go with me. But today, I felt like I needed some time alone. These past few weeks had frankly been hell for me. I’m not entirely sure how to cope with the amount of change, I’ve never been away from my mother for so long. And we still have weeks before this is over, if we make it that long. It had always been the two of us against my father, against tradition, against the rules, against the world. I can’t help but wonder the dangers of being in here, if my father finds out that I am alive, I would be a target. If I’m a target, that would make my team a target. I don’t know that it’s worth the risk, what if he already knows who I am? What if my picture is being broadcast across the country? Of course it is! I’m in A1 there’s no way it’s not! I can’t think about that. Not now.

I’ve been noting the small changes in the woods each day, the changes in the wind and where it would carry the leaves, the smell and how it struggled between pine and fresh spring water scents, the sound of the animals scurrying over the sound of the rustling trees. The trees are starting to change color, too. It’s beautiful, these in between stages. When some leaves are browning, some are brightening to bold yellows and oranges, and some remaining the same dark green they have been all year. I have always considered myself a nature junkie despite not selecting it as my society assignment. I have too much of an advantage in battle by knowing the forests so well, it would be a waste for me to throw my fighting skills out when my forest skills can help me in battle. When the others and I were kids, there were very few that were actually allowed to explore. It was really against the rules, but there were no soldiers patrolling the forests for stragglers so we always got away with it. I doubted anyone else got the opportunities that me, Ander, Jaq, and Emylee did as children. Our parents were separated from the kingdom, they didn’t agree with what my father and the Quill were doing with Delahonte. Even though they were Lords and Ladies of the Court, they fled. Changed their names, changed their occupations, and raised their children in a quiet and inconsequential town called Humes. A town where the King and the Quill rarely visited, it was deemed fairly unimportant, and it was pretty ignored. They decided to stay in the country, after all they couldn’t abandon home completely. But they kept low profiles, and had never been pursued by the court.

 Us kids grew up free and strong because of it. But also mostly unaware of the lives they were born to live. Ander and I were the only ones that truly knew, we were held to much higher standards in the court because of who our parents were. Obviously, my father is the king, but Ander’s father Hollinde, he was my father’s right hand man. Ander was treated as if he were a prince alongside my older brother, Caimon. We were trained from young ages to be leaders, and I suppose it worked out that way in the end. I never really intended to stay hidden forever, though it is still dangerous to expose myself in any manner. That is why Jaq and Emylee were put into safe society assignments. Things that would not get them identified, their parents were terrified of the court finding them. Emylee’s parents especially, they once threatened to move out to the Kravinoff Islands, but they stayed for their daughters’ sake. She had made a life for herself, as did her sister Fallyn.

I never looked back when we left. My father had a terrible reign over our lives and it was constantly taking a toll on me, my mother, and my friends’ families. I was honestly somewhat happy when we left the court. I still think about the night we left, the whole journey was a series changing our physical appearances from one train station to the next to hide our identities, as they years went on, the news carriers stopped sharing our old pictures, we weren’t being chased anymore, not to mention we all looked older. We were free. All of us starting allowing hair to grow back to its old style and color, us kids had grown enough that the pictures barely resembled us anymore, and the women could hardly be recognized without the makeup they had worn everyday in the court. No one could identify us, plus we had all changed our names. We truly started a new life. Part of me wonders if Ander and I are going to ruin everything by being military leaders. We had always talked about returning to the court, reclaiming it from the King, putting an end to the disaster that was the Quill. We would build from scratch, form a whole new court and end the suffering that our country had been put through for years. Maybe he still feels the same way. Maybe we will be the change that our country has been waiting for. Time will tell.

 

Sincerely,

Beth

 

Chapter Eight

"Beth! Wake up!" Ander called.

Beth's body lifted from her mattress, in a daze of confusion as lightning lit the open air outside of the cabin. In a bout of adrenaline she asked, "What's going on? Is everyone okay?"

"There's a bad storm, its starting to flood. It's going to get bad, Beth. We are trying to get all the horses inside the stable but Calypso isn't budging, she's panicked and I think she's going to get hurt-" Before he could finish his statement, Beth was running for the pasture. She splashed and jumped through ankle-deep water to get her horse before the water or its contents could hurt her.

"Calypso!" She called over and over. The sound of a horrific neigh sent Beth flying over the fence into the already flooded pasture. She waded through the water that was almost to her waist in the pasture until she found Calypso rearing and neighing near the giant oak that towered over the rushing waters below. "Easy," she soothed through the sound of the rain drumming on the pooling water, "I'm gonna get you out of here but you need to trust me."

The horse stomped her feet, eyes wide and ears pinned. Beth, in a frantic attempt to get the horse to safety, removed her soaked jacket from her body and wrapped it around Calypso's head, covering her eyes. With her eyes covered, the horse didn't know how to protect herself so she followed Beth's leading hand.

*~*

Ander was just short of losing his mind. Between the flooding and soaked, whiny soldiers, he felt out of control. To make matters worse, Beth was missing and there was a very high chance they would all have to sleep in the stables. A crack of thunder sent him barreling back into reality.

"Pietre, find a place for all of us to sleep." Pietre nodded and took off searching for a place that had not yet been compromised by horse or water. "Quinn, find us bedding; blankets, pillows, and anything than can be used as such."

"Does straw count for anything?"

"Only as a last resort, look for better options first." Ander turned to Noeh and Stievan. "You two go back to the commons, find food that you can bring back here, water too."

Once everyone was scattered with their tasks, Ander ran into the wall of rain.

"Beth!" He called out blindly.

"I'm here." Her words startling Ander. "Get the door so I can get Calypso inside."

Ander obeyed hastily and observed the rising water before pulling the door shut.

"Come on, let's try to get you dried off."

"Her too, horse's can get skin rashes from rain."

"And you, Donaway, can get life-threatening illnesses, I'll have Pietre or Quinn take care of Calypso, okay? It’s cold and you are soaked."

Beth nodded and Ander wrapped an arm around her, guiding her to a warmer place to dry off. Ander watched as Beth shivered helplessly beneath the horse blankets he’d found lying around the tack room. 

“Why did you go out there? With the water that high, you should’ve let her get to safety herself.” He tried to sound less judgemental and angry, but he wasn’t sure if he was convincing.

“She could’ve gotten injured out there, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but both her and I are okay.”

“Beth, she’s just a horse, this could’ve ended completely different.”

“Ander, it’s just a little rain, and compared to what we experience from day to day, I think sky water should be the least of our worries.” She soothed him, with the most simple of words she calmed the storm that had been raging inside his head. 

“Ander, I brought some towels back to use as blankets from the commons. They’re in that bag.” Noeh said moving to a lumpy green cloth bag leaning against a stall door and pulled a towel from it, handing it to Beth with a soft, apologetic look.

“Thank you.” She said quietly, avoiding eye contact and started away from the boys towards the office, the only spot in the stables with chairs.

“Beth, wait-” Noeh called after her, he soon found a firm hand pressed to his chest keeping him from following Beth.

“Don’t.” Ander snapped. “She will come to you when she is ready. Until then, you are going to leave her the hell alone.” Noeh pushed Ander away, the two glared at each other as Ander followed Beth and Noeh remained where he stood. 

“You okay?” He asked her as he walked into the office where she had already sat in the dustiest chair he’d ever seen.

“I’m fine, how many times will I have to tell you that rain won’t be the knife to kill me?”

“I’d prefer you not be killed by any knife.” He said and watched as a smile formed on her lips. The silence grew and Ander found himself staring at her, he was still partly in disbelief, and partly waiting for the moment he wakes up to find that this was all a dream. 

“Ander.” Beth said with a grin, and he quickly snapped back to reality. “You’re blushing, Rockwell.”

Ander’s eyes dropped to the floor where dust had obviously been accumulating for a century. He stared, his mind wandering back to the knife that had almost killed her. The fear he’d never thought he’d feel, and how good it felt to rip the life out of the men who took her. If he had taken a minute longer- he didn’t want to think about that.

“What’s wrong?” She asked stepping closer to him, and his vision blurred. “Ander?”

“I’m fine, I just-.” Ander said. He ran hand through his hair, “They know who you are, Beth. This just got dangerous. I mean, what if they came here for you-”

“And Chaess was collateral damage.” She looked down, but didn’t show any glimpse of anger or sadness. 

“You didn’t do this.”

“I know, but regardless he is gone. And now, knowing what they have found out,” She said lowering her voice, “Chaess’s death may not be the only one being taken in place of mine.”

Ander nodded, “We can’t tell the others, but they have to know we are all at risk.”

“Would telling them be so bad though. I mean, if they knew, would that really be so bad?” 

“Beth, you can’t put yourself more at risk. You can’t okay? Not yet.” She looked at him, just for a moment and nodded as she looked away.

“They can’t know.” Just then, they heard a shuffle outside of the office door.

“I’m going to go check on bedding.” Ander said loudly and walked out the door so fast, she didn’t even have time to respond.

He walked out the door to find Noeh standing near the door, he paused for a moment, but continued on. He couldn’t act suspicious, Beth was in danger now. If Noeh didn’t hear what they were talking about, there was no reason to berate him about it. But what if he had. Ander’s heart pounded, he could only hope that Noeh didn’t hear what had been said. 

Ander could hardly breathe. He realized something the day Beth was kidnapped, he finally understood what had been driving him crazy since day one. He knew that he wanted her to stay safe, even if it cost him. Unfortunately, he figured that someday it would.

*~*

Quinn looked everywhere for something that even remotely resembled a pillow. He’d found huge blankets that looked as though they had never been used. They had clips and straps, so he assumed they were for the horses but he couldn’t understand why. They have fur. Why in hell would they need a blanket? He dropped it, horse blankets just added to the things he’d never understand. He gathered up six of the huge, monochrome, pointless blankets intended for the fully furred horses, and dropped them between Calypso and Kamau’s stalls.

“Quinn, I need your opinion.”  Pietre said as if he was debating getting Quinn’s opinion in the first place. “I was tasked with finding a place for us to sleep. If it came down to sleeping in the hay loft or in one of the horse rooms with the wood bits on the floor, which would you choose?”

Quinn blinked a few times, dumbfounded by the question, “I mean, the horse room- stall,” he corrected himself, “Wouldn’t already have a horse in it.. Right?” he asked.

“You’re serious? No, you dolt, we would use the two empty ones.”

“Well, the stalls would be dusty and crowded, but the hay loft would be itchy. If we moved all the bales out of the way, it would be big enough for sure.” He paused. “Are you sure we are going to have to sleep in here? I mean how hard would it be for us to just swim?”

“Right, have you looked outside lately?” Pietre asked, “I think the chances of us leaving this barn are slim to none.”

“Stable.” Quinn corrected as if he were a mother correcting her child. “And I really think we’d be able to get out there.”

“Go look for yourself.” Pietre said gesturing to the door, and Quinn walked over to the big sliding door in the main aisle of the stable, pushing it aside just enough to see the river-like rushing water flowing where the down-hill path used to be. “So what’ll it be? Straw room or horse room?”

“Hayloft. Stall. It’s not that difficult, Pietre.” He sighed. “Hayloft it is.”

*~*

Beth didn’t look up as she passed Quinn and Pietre bickering, whatever the two of them were up to was beyond her. She kept walking and stopped in front of Calypso’s stall. She peered in at the nearly sleeping mare, and smiled.

“Hey, you.” She whispered kindly as she unlatched the stall door and slid it open. Calypso turned her dark face to Beth, her ears flicked forward. Beth latched the door shut behind her, and stroked the horse’s muzzle. She rested her head on Calypso’s. “I’m happy they brought you.”

Both horse and girl were content listening to the rain patter on the roof and the faint sound of voices chattering in the hay loft. She looked up to the source of the sound and saw the boys moving hay bales. Her eyes rested on Ander, his arms were exposed out of his now sleeveless shirt, his muscles tense. She couldn’t peel her eyes away, not until his met hers.  She reverted her attention back to her horse, feeling the heat on her face. She smiled, at Calypso. Her precious reminder of home. She could’ve stayed in that very spot for days if it hadn’t been for the storm. But, she decided it was best if she were present to subside whatever chaos the boys would stir. She patted Calypso one last time before making her way to the hay loft to see what kind of mess they were making up there, and also to figure out what it was they were doing exactly.

She climbed notably rotted wooden stairs up to the hayloft, it was clear to her that the only upkeep done in the entire place was in the main aisle and the stalls. Beth hated that. She decided that if she had time while she was here, she would work on it. When she reached the top of the stairs, she peeked over the stacked bales of straw and hay to see Pietre and Quinn laying down horse blankets over flattened piles of loose hay, Ander moving bales to stacks around the border of the loft, and the other two nowhere to be seen. 

“How’s it going up here?” she asked pensively.

“It’s going.. I guess.” Quinn scoffed and Beth chuckled at the hay and straw all over his body and in his hair. “You can laugh now, but you won’t think it’s so funny when you wake up in the middle of the night scratching every last bit of exposed, itchy skin on your body.”

“When I wake up?” She giggled.
“We are sleeping here tonight.” Ander said leaning on the bales closest to her.

“Interesting, though I can’t say I’m surprised. The flood is still rising.” She said, “Need any help?”

“We are actually almost finished. Is Noeh back with food?” Pietre asked all too seriously.

“Ander and I saw him a few minutes ago, he had a bag of towels with him.”

“He better have gotten food too, or he’ll have me to deal with.” Pietre said dropping the blankets and storming down the stairs, Beth laughed, rolling her eyes. 

She shook her head and started down the stairs to feed the horses before it got too late. She had only been in the feed room a few seconds when Ander joined her.

“Need a hand?” he asked.

“Sure, you can take the buckets as I fill them.” She said with a smile.

“Have you looked at the chart?” Ander said resting a hand on her lower back and reaching in front of her for the feeding chart, with details instructions on portions and types of food to feed.

“Thank you.” She said with a slight redness in her cheeks. 

She filled the buckets with the appropriate amounts and types of feed and watched Ander as he took each one out to the stall she’d told him. While he was taking the last of the feed, she grabbed a new bag from the corner of the room and emptied it into the nearly empty food bin she had been using.

“You seem to know what you are doing in here.” Ander said, dropping dirty buckets off to the side.

“Glad I’m able to fool someone.” They laughed, Beth smiled, she’d always loved the way he laughed. “How long do you think we’ll have to say out here?”

“I guess until the chances of drowning dissipates. It’s probably better we’re stuck in here, who would really go out in the weather to try and feed the horses if we weren’t.” He stared off a little, and she wondered if he was actually picturing someone swimming out to the stable to feed. 

“Ander?” His eyes met hers. “Am I wrong to be angry at him? He really didn’t do anything wrong. It was my fault, I was in my head.” His look grew sadder as he rushed to her side, her eyes lowered.

“Hey, that wasn’t your fault. You had just lost someone that you were close with, you were angry, you were,” He paused and really looked at her. “You were vulnerable, Beth. He should’ve been there in every move you took.”

“He shouldn’t have to. This is war, and it doesn’t stop because someone has feelings, it doesn’t stop because someone died. That’s the point here, isn’t it? People die, Ander. I shouldn’t have been vulnerable, I should’ve been able to take care of myself. I trained for this, we were desensitized to this.”

“You also trained to have each other’s backs at all times.There were too many of them, Beth. Honestly, I don’t think anyone would’ve been able to help. But, he should’ve been paying better attention, if not because it was in his training then because those were his specific instructions from his Captain. You were supposed to be his mission that day.”

“Like Chaess was mine when he was pierced through his chest?”

“Beth, that was different and you know it.” He said.

“Was it? Was it any different at all, Ander? I was supposed to have his back and then I didn’t. I didn’t save him, I didn’t protect him.”

“That was not your fault, Beth, you were fighting, you were doing your job, and you had his back, but one, one blade, slipped through. There was nothing you could’ve done different. Look,” He put his hand on her cheek and moved her face to look at his. “I don’t know if I will ever be okay with the fact he didn’t keep them away from you. Even if it was nearly impossible. But, you don’t have to be mad at him for falling short. If you think that you should or even can move past this then, Beth, please do. But, you need to forgive yourself too. You need to stop blaming yourself for what you couldn’t do. You need to stop cutting yourself down over the things that are out of your control. Please. Because if you think he deserves to be forgiven, then you deserve it too.” He stroked a thumb softly across her face before leaving the room.

*~*

Noeh found himself sitting on uncomfortable itchy hay. He was not happy about it to say the least.

“I swear, if those blankets are supposed to be some sort of bedding I will lose my mind.”

“Should we call the healers now, or..?” Pietre joked as he plopped down on the blankets resting his interlocked hands behind his head. 

“You can’t be serious, we are actually sleeping on this shit?” He demanded.

“He’s serious.” Quinn grumbled leaning back on a stack of bales while Noeh groveled complaints.

“If you would rather sleep outside you are more than welcome.” Beth said as she walked up the stairs. 

“At least it’s better than sleeping on…” Steivan paused, clearly in deep thought. “You know, I can’t really think of anything worse than itchy hay.” Everyone laughed.

“It’s certainly better than concrete or mud.” Pietre said all too seriously, everyone got silent and turned their heads when they heard Ander coming up the stairs. Noeh made no attempt to hide the rolling of his eyes at the sight of the captain.

“It’s already late, there’s really no telling whether we are going to battle tomorrow, but as of now, we are stuck here. I just spoke with Lewisse and the command team will be notifying us at first light with a verdict. For now, just try to get some sleep.” Ander said, he moved to Beth and sat beside her.

Noeh watched Ander’s eyes find hers and their wordless communication made him sick. Of course, Ander would chose the spot closest hers and the spot to separate her and Noeh. Frustrated, Noeh turned his back to them, to her, and fell asleep to the hushed rustling of horses and humans.

*~* 

Ander couldn’t sleep. He checked on Beth every few minutes, making sure she was sound asleep. He thought of her words, her sadness. She missed Chaess, it made Ander’s heart ache to think of what she was feeling. How she must’ve felt when Kallide died. How unnerving her screams were. How chilling it was to watch her prepare for battle after such an incident. Death made her cruel. He was thankful that her malicious behavior was only temporary. He worried, though he knew she was so strong, that one of these days something may happen that she won’t be able to recover from. That her profound viciousness would become permanent. He tried not to let his mind drift to those thoughts.

Ander laid on his back, observing the ceiling. He noted the wooden framework and all the nails haphazardly jutting out of the boards at all angles. He wondered how long it had been since anything other than the main aisle had been repaired or maintained. He also wondered how old this building even was. As far as he could recall, no base before them ever had horses. So why start now? He figured that would be a question for the command if he ever made it to the end.

Beth’s panicked breathing broke his train of thought. Suddenly, her body was thrashing.

“No, no.” she mumbled. Ander realized she was dreaming, unsure of how to handle such a situation, he put a hand on her shoulder.

“Shh, it’s okay, you’re safe.” He whispered. She opened her eyes quickly tears pouring down her cheeks, breathing heavy and frantic. “It’s okay,” he whispered cupping her face in his hand, “It’s just a dream. It’s me.” 

“It’s not a dream, they’re really gone.” she cried, and he knew exactly who she was talking about. He wrapped his arms around her.

“I know.” It was all he could say. He let her cry, and would let her cry as long as she needed.

Eventually, her breathing steadied and her body stilled from the trembling. Her head was rested just below his chin, her arms wrapped around him still, as his were around her. He didn’t move her, he didn’t want to. She needed to sleep, or maybe that was just the easy excuse he made for himself. 

He kissed her forehead softly and finally got some sleep himself.

*~*

Quinn wasn’t even sure what had woken him in the middle of the night. Quietly, he scanned the room looking for whatever disrupted his much needed rest. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but Beth sobbing in Ander’s arms was definitely not it. He watched silently, he realized that if someone saw him staring they would most definitely think he was a creep; but he felt like he was onto something. What if this changed something. Or what if it didn’t matter at all. He wasn’t taking any chances.

Just when he thought the excitement was over, she fell asleep. Exciting? Maybe not, but she was wrapped in his arms. Quinn was astonished when it didn’t end there, Ander kissed her! On the head, granted, but nonetheless a kiss! He sat still mouth gaping as he watched the whole ordeal unfold. He looked around to see if anyone else was seeing this, and of course they weren’t. If he didn’t know any better he’d think everyone else was dead, how could no one else wake up for that? It was the most interesting thing to happen since he’d gotten to the camp, well other than all the combat.

*~*

Noeh knew the day would suck from the moment he opened his eyes. At some point in the night he had turned to face the very spot where Ander and Beth were far too comfortably wrapped around each other. His face burned with both hatred and envy. Of all the times they could’ve chosen to be repulsive, they chose now. He scoffed and left the hayloft like a child being refused chocolate in a candy shop. 

*~*

Beth woke to the sound of someone shouting profanities. Her face flushed when she realized how she was laying. Her eyes searched Ander’s face for any sign of waking as she peeled herself from his arms. As soon as her body was no longer touching his, she raced down the stairs, missing half of them, and actually collided with Noeh. 

“Woah there, Tiger.” he said steadying her, “In a hurry?”

“I- uh - well- I,” she fumbled for her words, trying to form an actual thought.

Without another attempt at speaking, she fled down the narrow hallway under the hayloft and crashed into one of the rooms, slamming the door behind her. She sank to the floor and gathered her breaths. A few minutes went by before she realized there were tools in the room. Slowly, she stood and observed the various hammers, screwdrivers, saws, horseshoes, wrenches and so many other tools that she didn’t even know existed. She ran her finger along the surface of one of the work benches and collected so much dust that it changed the color of her fingertip. She wiped her hand and looked to the other side of the room where piles of wood and metals were sprawled across the floor and in buckets. Hanging above them, she saw several brooms, brushes, and pans hanging on the wall in organized bundles. She ran a hand across the bristles of a handheld broom and reached for its handle. She carefully pulled it and a pan from the wall and rid the work benches of dust and debris. 

*~*

He wasn’t sure whether it was appropriate for him to simply walk in, he wasn’t sure if appropriate was even the right term for what he was questioning. But he did anyway.

“You alright in here?” Noeh asked.

“I’ve been better.” She half-smiled.

“Beth, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? Noeh, sorry is not the remedy here. Look, I’m not mad, I actually don’t even know what I am. But with everything that’s going on, I can’t relax about this. I know it wasn’t your fault, I do. But, it’s still hard not to have adversity to you at this moment. And sorry will not fix it.”

“Then what will? I’m not going to stay clear of you, I’m not going to avoid you. What other option is there than to be sorry?”

“The option to go back and change time.” She paused. “Maybe.”

“Sounds easy enough.” Noeh gave a small chuckle. “So what, I’m supposed to just wait around for you to feel okay with me? Because I couldn’t single-handedly protect you from twenty soldiers? That’s not even fair.”

“I never said it was.”

“Oh, then what are you saying, Beth?” He became irritated.

“I’m saying you need to give me a little time, Noeh.”

“Time? Really? This is war, Beth. We don’t get time.” He started to raise his voice, the sudden change in his tone startled Beth.

“Why are you getting angry? Is this really so ridiculous for you?”

“I’m angry because you were my best friend in this shithole, Beth. I’m angry because all of a sudden you’re not paying attention to anything, you are being wreckless, you are getting yourself into trouble. You could’ve been killed, and now you’re saying you need time? Beth that’s ridiculous. That cannot be your reason. I know you. Why are you really upset with me?”

“I’m not upset with you, Noeh. I just have things to deal with, things that don’t really concern you.”

“Oh, that don’t concern me. Beth, you are kidding. You have secrets now? Is that it? What is your deal?”

“My deal is that you are overreacting, right now. You are acting crazy. You are smothering me, attacking Ander over me, and now yelling at me for asking for time. Look, I wasn’t any better that day but you are taking your anger and whatever feelings you are harbouring and making this place more hell than it already was.” Beth said. 

“Ever think that maybe there is a reason for that?” Noeh gulped.

“I don’t want to.” She said sharply, turned and started for the door.

“Sure, go run to Captain Loverboy why don’t you? Just like you always do.”

“It’s not like that.” She snapped, her face blushed. “Why do you hate him so much?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes, Noeh, it matters a lot. It’s causing trouble and tension in our team and I am sick of it. I’m tired of being pissed at you for it.”

“Pissed at me? What for?”

“Every since you found out who Ander was, you’ve been a shit person. You’re letting it get to you.”

“Of course I am, Beth,” He raised his voice. “Do you forget what he put you through?”

“Do you forget that you were my best friend?”

“That’s kind of part of the problem here, the problem is he hurt you, Beth! He destroyed you. And now you’re just going to sit back and watch him do it all over again? Forgive me if I have a problem with that when I was the one who stuck by your side!”

“I’m not letting him do anything! There a things that you have no idea about, Noeh.”

“Then what do you have to say about last night, Beth? Huh? You were all over each other. You can’t tell me after all that, that you two don’t have something going on.”

“Keep your voice down.” She said, her face drained of color.

“It’s not a secret, Beth, everyone saw, it. We were all there. You are just clueless aren’t you?”

“Noeh, stop.”

“He’s trying to earn your trust back, just so he can destroy you again. Can’t you see that?”

“Noeh, please.”

“He’s doing all that protective bullshit, to earn your trust just to rip it to shreds again”

“Do you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe, it’s because he actually cares?” Beth snapped.

“He doesn’t care, Beth. I care. I-” His voice cracked, his eyes dropped. “I’m the one that cares.”

“You have a lousy way of showing it.” She said, and started for the door, but stopped as Noeh rushed to meet her holding her arms with his hands, surprised she didn’t pull away. “If he doesn’t get a chance to be sorry, then neither do you.” She said.

“That’s not fair, Beth. I care about you.” he said brushing a tear from her cheek.

“And I care about him, and he obviously cares about me. Your ignorance is blinding you, Noeh. I-I don’t know how to explain what I’m feeling, but I’m feeling something for him so grow the hell up and accept that or stay out of my way.”

She turned again for the door, Noeh reached out and pulled her back in, one hand on her waist, the other moved up from her arm to her face. Their faces inches apart, he placed a hand in her hair and to the back of her neck. Then. He. Kissed. Her. He kissed her softly, for a single moment that seemed to drag on forever. 

“I cannot believe you!” She yelled throwing a punch so hard to his stomach that he hurled over in pain. “What is wrong with you? I tell you that I have may feelings for another person and you feel that is an appropriate time to kiss me?” She started out the door with anger.

“Beth, no, please,” he coughed, “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want to hear it, Noeh. Stay the hell away from me, I mean it.” She growled as she walked out the door.

*~*

Quinn hid just in time for Beth to run out of the room. He couldn’t believe all the drama he’d been missing out on. He went over all the facts he’d gathered in his head and came up with many different scenarios before realizing how dumb he was. Ander and Beth are in love, but Noeh is in love with Beth, Beth doesn’t return that love, but they were best friends before coming here. He laughed to himself for a moment before Noeh came walking out of the tool room. For a moment, Quinn considered speaking to him, he decided against it in fear of being thought of as the team stalker. He waited until it was silent to peek around the corner and sneak back into the main aisle. He saw Beth moving towards Calypo’s stall. 

“Quinn, take this to Zandra.” Quinn jerked his head so fast that it caused a cramp in his neck.

“Yeah, okay.” Quinn took the bucket of feed and hustled into Zandra’s stall.

The bay mare greeted him with a little nicker and reached for the bucket of food. Quinn pushed her back as he entered her stall and dumped the food into her bin. 

*~*

She didn’t even know where she wanted to go, she just didn’t want to be around Noeh and didn’t want to wake Calypso. She walked out of the stall and found Quinn stroking Zandra’s muzzle, she smiled.

“I see you’ve made a friend.” She said leaning against the stall, still recovering her breath from the… incident with Noeh. 

“She’s really sweet when she’s not scaring the piss out of Pietre.” They laughed.

“I spent a lot of my time on farms at home.” She said, “But, I never saw any horses like these.”

“I never knew that about you.” He said with a particular interest.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” she swallowed, “We’ve only known each other a few weeks.”

“Well, tell me more, let me into the mind of the wild Beth Donoway.” He smiled, hoping she’d spill some information about her drama.

“I don’t know really where to start.”

“Well, why are you here?”

“Okay, that’s interesting actually. I moved to Humes when I was young with my mother and sister. My father, well he passed away when I was a baby.” She pushed the guilt of the lie she had always told to the back of her mind. “When I was twelve, my sister was killed in a village raid from the Dumarians. It was hard on my mom and I. So I started training with --a friend, and my friend left out of the blue. Basically, I was hurt and a major wreck. So my entire life turned into a mission of revenge on Dumar and a way to rectify my own twisted feelings of abandonment.” She finished with fake enthusiasm and joy, as if the story was happy.

“That’s deep.”

“You could say that, what about you? Why are you a professional murderer?” She smirked.

“I certainly don’t have a backstory for it,” He said as he moved away from Zandra and leaned an elbow the half-door of the stall close to Beth. “I was raised on the border, son of a Command General and when given the option of the different societal orders, I followed my father’s footsteps.”

“I count that as a story, following your father’s footsteps is significant.”

“I guess, did you know anyone here prior?” He said, nonchalantly trying to pry some information out of her.

“Yes, I did.”

“Really? That’s apparently rare.”

“Well, I’m that one in a million that knew two people in base prior to arriving. Ander and Noeh, Ander and I grew up together and Noeh and I trained together in years three and four.”

“So you know them well?”

“Better than I know myself.”

“Does that make it any easier?”

“I don’t know if it would.” She paused thinking to just the past two days and how dramatic knowing those two had been. “I wouldn’t say it’s any easier, no. But, I can say that coming here knowing that I could trust them counted for something.” She choked on yet another lie.

“Sometimes it’s better to get to know new people instead of being stuck with the old ones, even if you did trust the old ones.” He smirked at her with a face she hadn’t seen on him before. She blushed faintly and turned away from him. 

“Attention soldiers. This is Command Squadron CS-47-602. Contact is requested with Anderson Rockwell, status year five, identification number 66101-T5-T9-A1 and Beth Donoway, status year four, identification number 66320-T4-T9-A1.”

“Anderson Rockwell 66101-T5-T9-A1. Contact accepted.” Ander called back, Beth walked out into the main aisle to join him.

“Beth Donoway 66320-T4-T9-A1. Contact accepted.”

“Redirecting to Command CS-47-801.” The artificial voice read. 

“Hello, this is command Lewisse Isherwood code CS894621 of CS-47-801. We have received word that the flooding on your base is level 7 on the emergency scale and is to be considered very dangerous, there is no way that I will risk this country’s six greatest upcoming soldiers. Units A3 and 4 will be sent to recover your sector in battle and will fall back once given orders to do so. The A2 through A9 armadas are still in commission. Battle will go on and you are expected to join once there is an opportunity. We will send aid, however the units are expected two days travel. Lieutenants, what is your status on supplies?”

“We are lacking, Commander. If we ration meals properly it may last a full day at most.” Beth said.

“I will see what we can send via air.” Lewisse said. “We will be in contact soon, and you should prepare yourselves for the devastation you may witness when you return. CS-47-801 contact terminated.” The speakers beeped three times before the static ended.

No one spoke for a few moments. It was uncomfortable to say the least.

“What kind of devastation? Why would you not elaborate after saying something like that?” Stievan said, Quinn stared at him pensively trying to decide if it was fear he sensed.

“I’m not sure.” Ander said. “But we will be prepared for anything.”

*~*

That night Quinn, Stievan, Pietre and Noeh went to sleep in the hayloft before the horses had even been fed. Beth had spent the majority of her day in and out of Calypso’s stall and cleaning the stables with the limited resources she had. She did have a few moments sparring with Quinn, his idea was to keep their minds and reflexes fresh in order to be ready for whatever they would face in battle. 

Beth walked into the feed room, only to find Ander staring hopelessly at the feed chart, looking from it and to the bins.

“How did you automatically know which feed was which?” he asked, stumped.

Beth laughed, “I fed the horses in Humes sometimes, I learned quickly.”

She put a hand out gesturing for the chart, and Ander handed it over with a smile on his face and gathered the buckets for Beth.

“Where is everyone?” He asked.

“They are already in the loft, and I’m almost positive I heard snoring so Quinn is asleep.” she replied with a smirk on her face.

“Of course, they are.” Ander said with a chuckle. “Are you okay?”

The question caught her off guard, nothing she had done in those few minutes would suggest that something is wrong, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You had a nightmare last night, I just want to make sure that whatever is haunting you while you sleep isn’t a problem when you are awake.” The manner in which he was speaking was so genuine. But the memory of the night prior ripped into her memory.

“It’s not a problem.” She said, looking him in the eyes. “Thank you for that by the way.”

She forced herself to look away to hide the red forming on her cheeks, a smile was his only response. He picked up a few of the buckets of feed and walked out into the main hall while Beth filled the remaining buckets. She could hear the horses’ excitement as they stomped their feet and nickered for Ander to bring them their food. Once all the horses were content with food, Ander and Beth went back into the office. 

“I think we need some sort of plan for when we get out of here.” Beth said.

“We do. But who knows how well we can devise a plan when we don’t even know what’s going to be different. We don’t know when this flood with dissipate, we don’t know what kind of ‘devastation’ we will be finding, and we certainly don’t know what kind of advantage they will have over us.” Ander said, his voice sounding tired and depleted.

“We don’t need to worry about that now, the other teams have over 500 to 1,000 soldiers per unit. They will take care of battle. How about we just think about food. How much do we have?”

“Well, Noeh was able to get a bag full of fruit. But Pietre found it so now it’s not full. We have enough to last us until tomorrow, maybe tomorrow night. We can only hope that they will send the supplies before then.” Ander said running a hand through his hair.

“Water?” Beth asked, rubbing her eyes.

“Plenty, there are canteens filled to the brim, and we still have access to two hoses. And if it gets low there’s a never ending supply coming from the sky, I’m sure we could figure a way to clean it.” Ander watched Beth, she looked exhausted. “Maybe you should get some rest.”

“Maybe you should.”

“Well, no use in staying up now.” He said gesturing to the door.

“Ander?” Beth asked her face red, he looked back to her. “I don’t want to be around him.” 

Ander nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

Once he was out the door, Beth ran her hands through her hair. She had no idea how she would ever tell Ander what she was feeling, or what had happened between her and Noeh. She didn’t want it to happen, but she didn’t stop him at first. She was so confused, for so many years Noeh was just her friend, her confidant, she never thought he’d had feelings for her. She certainly didn’t have any for him, not even when he kissed her. She wished he hadn’t done that. She wished she would’ve pulled away sooner, she should have. But she didn’t. She did give him one hell of a punch, though. If one thing was for sure, she wanted to be nowhere near Noeh for the time being. She didn’t want to think about what he said, what he did. She told him, she told him she cared for Ander. And he kissed her? She couldn’t stand that he did that.

“Are you okay?” Ander asked, Beth snapped out of her daze to realize there was a tear sliding down her cheek, and saw a pile of horse blankets on the floor. “Why are you upset?” he asked moving to her and putting a hand on her arm. 

“Ander, I have something to tell you, and you aren’t going to like it.”

*~*

He blinked. He moved. He ran. He yelled. And if it weren’t for Beth, he would’ve killed Noeh. 

“What were you thinking?” He yelled in Noeh’s face, “What part of your demented brain thinks that what you did is okay?” He knew nothing of the conversation they had, Beth had been careful not to reveal that, nonetheless, he was fuming.

“Your the one to talk asshat!” Noeh yelled back, the others started to stir awake.

“Don’t even start! You let her be taken, Noeh, you let her be abused by those men, what part of you thought it was even remotely okay to lay a hand, much less your lips on her?” He shouted furiously. “You are to stay away from her, do you hear me? Do not come near her until she is ready to speak to you.” Ander barked, he collected himself and turned to Beth who was pulling his arm back asking him to stop.

“Let’s just go, okay? I’m okay.” He closed his eyes, and thought of what it would mean if he stayed, so he put a hand on her back and followed her down the stairs, turning back to see the anger on Noeh’s face.

*~* 

Beth woke the next two mornings alone in one of the extra stalls. The night that Ander went after Noeh was simply uncomfortable for her, Ander decided it was best that she slept by herself, as sleeping anywhere near him or Noeh would only make matters worse. She partly admired how quick Ander was to defend her and how quickly he responded when she asked him to let it go. It had been hard for her to admit her feelings, and Noeh was now the only one who knew. Well, partially knew. She knew though. She knew that she loved Ander. She was angry, at Noeh. So angry at him. And she was so ready to get back into battle. They had received word the day prior that they would be able to leave the base, and for once, on horseback, with the request that they stay close to base in case the rain started again. The horses would be far better apt to taking on the terrain to go to battle directly instead of the bus that had to take the indirect routes. Unfortunately, battle was still delayed for them another day. Dumar was still declaring a stalemate which worried her more than she would’ve liked to admit. She was a little relieved to know that there were hundreds of soldiers holding their side of the lines just in case.

She hadn’t talked to Ander or Noeh for those two days, or anyone really except for Calypso. She was a good listener. Beth found comfort in just sitting with her horse, watching her, petting her, grooming her, feeding her, all of the things. It’s odd really, that a creature so big and so deadly can be of so much comfort.

Beth decided she didn’t like the silence, and apparently neither did Ander.

“Beth, can we talk?” Ander asked stopping at the door of Calypso’s stall.

“Of course,” Beth started to walk to the office, stopped by Ander. 

“Not here.”

Beth and Ander grabbed their horses putting only bridles on them. They led them outside into the still damp and puddled path.

“Close your eyes.” Ander said.

“What?” 

“Close your eyes.” And she did. She also didn’t want to say no, so, she took off her shoes and hopped on her horse without a saddle, gave her reins to Ander and allowed him to cover her eyes with a strip of cloth.

After several minutes of riding, Beth had to ask, “Ander, where are we going.”

“Shh, the less you know the better. Do you trust me?” The question made her uneasy and exhilarated her at the same time.

“I trust you.”

“Then no peeking.” She heard his smile as he spoke, her heart raced and her stomach turned. She didn’t know what to expect or how this at all constituted a talk. “Only a few more minutes.”

Just as he finished speaking, Beth felt Calypso’s body angle upward. She had no idea where she was or where they were going. She had never been one to trust another person, because people are people. They betray you. She would never have done this, not with anyone but Ander. He was her exception. She felt the ground getting steeper still and grabbed a fistfull of Calypso’s mane, worrying slightly about the rain making the ground slick. It was then that she heard the water. Rushing water, faint but unmistakable.

“Where are you taking me, Rockwell?” she asked, unable to control her smile.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out.” She couldn’t see him, but she could feel his eyes on her, and the light content smile he had to have had on his face.

They rode upward for several more minutes, the sound of the water growing louder with every step. Her anticipation grew. She heard trees rustling, felt the light touch of the wind blowing against her exposed arms and feet, and the sun lightly grazed her skin as to welcome her home. The water sounded strong, a waterfall. She felt the light mist of the nearby water kissing her ankles, her hair flowed lightly with the damp wisps of the wind. She heard twigs crunching beneath the hooves of the horses and the occasional snorts.

“I’m sorry,” were the first words he said as he helped Beth down from Calypso’s back and removed the cloth from her eyes, “I lost my temper when I shouldn’t have.” He paused for a moment, his hands were noticeably shaky as he stuffed them into his pockets. “But, I’m also not sorry.” Beth looked to him confused. “I’m not sorry because if something like that were to happen again I would do the same thing.” he looked down, his face read an emotion she had never seen him wear, “I.. care about you. And I,” he gulped, “Beth, I swear, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Whether that be another attempt on your safety or on your heart. No one is going to hurt you. Not if I have anything to do with it.” 

Her eyes welled with tears, she knew she could handle herself, he knew it too. But, for her there was nothing better than to feel protected by someone other than herself, to feel guarded yet vulnerable again. Like a child. She couldn’t look at him a moment longer, she turned her head to the sight of the waterfall. She looked high to the crest of the mountain and followed the streaming water that fell into the immense river. The sound of nature’s drums pounding against the rocks on the banks was comforting, she closed her eyes, searching for the senses that were overwhelming. The smell of pines and freshwater, the sounds of rustling combined with the rushing water. The sensation of Ander’s hands arriving on her waist and pulling her back into his chest, the warmth of his arms wrapping around her, the sound of his whisper, “You are safe.” 

She held his arms to her body for moment longer then moved from his grasp and faced him, “Let’s be reckless.” She smiled and ran for the river bank, and to her side he followed, and together they leapt from the furthest rock into the deepest abyss of the wide river.

They resurfaced, inches apart smiles consuming their faces and laughter attempting to overpower the roar of the river. Silence fell upon them, and their eyes grew wide with intent. Ander’s hands found their way to her waist, her breath caught as those same hands pulled her close, slowly as if asking instead of guiding. She moved a hand to his cheek, with the slightest curve of a smile. 

“Beth, I-” Ander started, and Beth knew exactly what was about to cross his lips.

“I know,” Beth interrupted softly, “Me too.”

They smiled, and four hands pulled two bodies closer, meeting two lips together, into one passionate kiss. Their grips grew tighter as the kiss grew stronger. Years of distance pouring its many miles into mouths and between tongues. The message emanated wildly without a single word being spoken, and the two pulled apart, their foreheads leaned against one another. The water rushed around them in a symphony of splashing and currents, the world in that moment brightened and the sun fell lightly on their wet skins. The pine needles and leaves swayed to the wind whispering their secrets and leaving scattered traces of this moment slowly drifting to the ground, leaving the imprints of the moment that war gave way to love, even for just a few seconds. 

Beth’s heart swelled with the missing piece of her finally being returned. She traced a hand from his cheek to his arm, pulling apart just enough to look into the eyes of the man she had craved for so long. 

“I-” She smiled shaking her head, kissing him lightly once again.

“You what, Donoway?” He smirked teasingly, pulling her body closer to his.

“I just can’t believe- you- I- this-” She stammered her words, her cheeks reddened.

“I love you.” He said, his words carried through the roaring of the river and sunk deeply into her soul, her smile widened, tears formed uncontrollably.

“And I love you, Rockwell.” Joy and laughter radiated from them as they kissed and splashed each other. They stayed out there for hours before finally swimming to the rocks, high on the pure excitement of their deepest affections finally being exposed. They sloshed to the horses that had been tied to a tall pine. Ander helped Beth onto Calypso’s back and mounted Achilles, and the two, together, started on the path back to base.

*~*

“Where the hell were you two? We thought you up and died or something?” Pietre yelled when Ander and Beth returned with their horses. “And what made you so wet?” He paused, “Damn, that came out wrong.” Ander and Beth chuckled.

“We went out to the waterfall, and ended up going for a little swim.” Ander responded with a half smile.

“Well, you didn’t have go too far for that, the cabins are underwater.”

“They what?” Ander said his smile disappearing.

“Yeah, they are demolished, the wind must’ve done some damage because they don’t even have roofs anymore. They hardly even have walls, and the water is at least four feet deep. Come with me, I’ll show you.” Pietre started out of the stables.

“I’m sorry, I’ll be back.”

“It’s okay, I’ll take Achilles. Go do your thing.” She said smiling, holding back every urge to kiss him again.

*~*

Ander thanked her and went after Pietre to assess the damage done. He walked around puddles and ponds of water to what was once the cabins they inhabited. It looked like a hurricane had torn through their little homestead. They tried to assess what could be salvaged, wading through the high waters. Whoever designed the cabins being at the lowest point of the base was truly an imbecile. Everything was soaked, the beds were scattered on the yard along with the pieces of the walls, the bunks broken and collapsed. All that was standing was the toilet in the first cabin and the steel armories with the battle gear. 

“We will need to get our gear out of the armories, we are lucky those were strong enough to withstand whatever the hell happened out here.”

“Should I get the others?” 

“Yes, and tell Beth to get into contact with Lewisse, we may be in the stables longer than we intended.” Pietre nodded, but before he left, there was something he had to know.

“Ander? I couldn’t help but ask, you and Beth- are you guys- what exactly are you?”

“We are your captain and co-captain, Pietre, now move.” Ander smirked once Pietre was gone, how were they supposed to let that one out? He laughed and got to work on opening the armories.

*~*

Noeh was not thrilled to see Beth and Ander return hours later soaked and glowing. Something happened while they were out there. Beth didn’t do happy, but there she was. Happy. His skin crawled, he despised the two of them like that. 

“Noeh?” He jerked his head up and met her eyes.

“Need something?” It was then he’d realized that he had been staring at her while she was brushing Achilles.

“Uh, no.” He said. “Where were you?”

“I was safe.” She said turning back to Achilles, bitterness in her tone.

“I’m sorry, Beth.”

“There you go again, apologizing. You know my opinion on apologies hasn’t changed since the last time you tried.”

“What else am I supposed to do? Plead, get on my knees and beg that you forgive me, tell you I’m not going to do it again? Huh? How do I fix this?” He said desperately.

“Maybe you don’t, Noeh. Sometimes you go too far, and sometimes you can’t go back. No matter how hard you try.”

“Even so, I’m not going to stop. I’m going to keep trying, Beth, so help me I will. But you have to try too. It’s not fair for you to hate me over all of this.”

“I have every right to be upset. And in case you’ve forgotten what all of this is, let me remind you. You lost me, you lost your mind and couldn’t get your shit together long enough to go and find me yourself, so you know who did? Ander. You came to me when I was upset, when I was trying to get you to give me space and trusted you and you kissed me. You kissed me, Noeh. While I was telling you how I felt about someone else. So yes, I can be mad or upset. I have every right to hold a grudge. You took advantage of my trust in a time when I needed you to be my friend. That’s not easy to forgive.”

“But it’s easy to forgive him?” Beth was irritated, and rightly so, she turned from Achilles and stepped angrily trying to pass Noeh, who blocked her path as he spoke.

“Don’t even start with your childish attempts to break this, Noeh.” She shoved his chest. “It has been years since Ander left, years. No, I don’t know why he did that. I probably won’t even ask, you know why? Because instead of berating me about forgiveness, and pushing me to act insane, he was there for me. He protected me, he listened to me, and he helped me. Don’t you forget that while you were stuck spinning with your own thoughts, Ander was the one that came for me. He didn’t just say he was sorry, he showed it Noeh. You want me to forgive you? Then give me a reason to. Instead of yelling, and fighting me, show me why I should even want to forgive you. Because from where I’m standing there is no reason to do so.” She shook her head and shoved herself past Noeh and out of the stall, she retreated in the office where Quill only knows what happened. 

Noeh checked to see if anyone saw what just happened, he was admittedly embarrassed for what he had done. It was wrong, but he didn’t really see why it was any different from what Ander had been doing. He snuggled all up to her while she was sleeping, he left her for Quill’s sakes why the hell would she pretend that never happened. At least he didn’t abandon her, his mistake was just that, a mistake, that he didn’t do to hurt her. Ander left her on purpose, with the knowledge of what he was doing. She should hate Ander. 

Fed up with yet another fight, he climbed up to the hayloft to find Stievan dead asleep in the middle of all the hay. 

“Hey asshat, wake up.” Noeh said, giving Stievan a light kick to the ribs.

“What?” Stievan grumbled.

“Let’s get out of this dump, teach me to ride a damn horse.”

“No.” Stievan said and rolled over on his stomach.

“Stievan get your ass up and help me or I will make your life a living hell.”

“It already is.” Noeh kicked him harder, this time in a much more sensitive place. Stievan shouted and shot up off the ground.

“What the hell man!” He groaned.

“It’s past noon, get your ass up and teach me how to ride a horse.”

“Fine, damn. You’re a real dick in the morning.”

“It’s not even morning.” Noeh said as they started for the horses.

*~*

It had been four hours since Ander first started looting the demolished cabins, now with the help of Pietre, Quinn, and Beth, they were finally making progress. 

“So where are Noeh and Stievan exactly?” Quinn asked.

“Hopefully, far, far away from here.” Beth scoffed pulling weapons from one of the armories.

“What’s your deal with them?” Pietre asked.

“Nothing's my deal with Stievan, Noeh on the other hand, he’s being an asshole. And he apologizes way too much.”

“Did he try to talk to you again?” Quinn asked a little too intensely. 

“Yeah, he did. He kind of cornered me while I was taking care of Achilles earlier. Kind of demanded an explanation on why I haven’t gotten over it yet. All the while dragging Ander back into it every chance he got.” Beth and Ander looked at each other. Their glance suggesting that she may have said more about the problem than she had before. 

“What’s Ander got to do with it?” Pietre asked, Beth and Ander again exchanged glances. 

“When Noeh kissed me, I was in the middle of telling him my feelings for-” She swallowed and looked at Ander who nodded and shrugged as if to say, Now is as good a time as any, “Ander.”

Quinn and Pietre paused and looked at them with gaping mouths, waiting for Ander to react.

“So this isn’t news to you?” Quinn asked Ander.

“No, is it news to you?” 

“Well, actually no, not really. But, didn’t you guys know each other before you came here?” 

“You could say that.” He smirked at her, “We grew up together and were involved with each other before I was taken to battle camp.”

“Taken?” Pietre asked, and Beth was glad he did because she questioned the same thing.

“I was forced to go,” He said nonchalantly, “I got cut off from my family, my friend’s, Beth, and was taken to a town just west of the royal village on the King’s orders, he said he had followed my progress and thought I was a promising subject for A1 and wished to oversee my progress himself.” He looked at Beth with apologetic eyes. It was him. It was her father that tore them apart, she should have known. But, her father didn’t even know where she was, or if she was even alive. Was this random? That is why Ander never responded, he couldn’t. Or maybe they didn’t even make it to him. How could they? He wasn’t even at the camp she sent the to. If her father somehow found out who Ander was or who she was, they would be taken back to court, or even worse, killed.

“That’s intense.” Quinn shrugged and got back to opening the armories and stuffing bags with clothes and weapons. 

“We should take some of this back, eh? Ander will you give me a hand?” Beth asked, gesturing to the bags around her. When the two were out of range of the others Beth spoke, “My father is the reason you left?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t mean to dredge up old issues, but is that why you never wrote back?” He looked surprised when she said that.

“Well, no. I think you made it very clear that I should’ve stayed as far away as possible. I believe your exact words were, ‘Go to hell, you rotten shit eater. Never speak to me, or I will find you and I will rip off each of your fingers and toes and let you bleed out.’ I just assumed you meant it.” He chuckled a little, Beth was the surprised one then.

“I didn’t say that. Any of that. I literally sent like ten letters begging you to reply, and when I was finally done with it I sent one that said, ‘Maybe, it’s best you stay away from me.’ I would have never sent you something like that.” She was starting to get concerned because when she said letters Ander looked even more shocked.

“Beth, I only received one letter from you. I sent maybe thirteen myself, then when I got that one I thought it was over.” The realization dawned on both of them at the same time.

“Ander, the only reason someone would keep us from writing to each other is someone who knows a very big secret.” She said with clear concern.

“Or someone who doesn’t want the soldier they are supervising getting distracted over the girl back home.” Ander set the weapons down in the main aisle of the stable and ran a hand through his hair, just then a moment of panic, “You didn’t put anything that would give away your identity, did you?” 

“No, of course not. Either way, someone out there knows who I am, whether they read those letters or not.” She half-smiled and let out a little laugh.

“What? What’s funny about that?”

“I thought you left me. I-” She laughed a little louder, “I started battle training because I thought you left me on purpose. I thought- wow. I was so angry for so long, and you know, it makes sense.”

“What does?”

“That this was the doing of my shit father.” She slammed a hand against an empty stall door frame.The two sat in silence for a moment, Ander smirked and slid a hand on her waist.

“It didn’t work,” He whispered before kissing her cheek. “And you know, I really thought you were a badass for sending that letter. But, you didn’t send it.” He sucked air through his teeth and laughed, Beth turned around and lightly hit his shoulder.

“I’m still a badass, even if twelve year old me didn’t send a nasty letter to you.” She laughed as he slid his arms around her waist and lifted her into the air.

“What badass? No badass here!” They laughed, Beth pulled an arm from his grip, grabbing his shoulder and shoved her weight to his side, planted her feet and pushed him to the ground. Stepping over him, he laughed.

“Here she is.” Beth looked back at him smiling and kept walking back to the cabins to help Pietre and Quinn.

*~*

“Well, that is an interesting duo.” Pietre said watching as Beth threw Ander to the ground and still somehow managed to make that flirty.

“You could say that again,” Quinn said with a smile and shook his head, sifting through his own armory.

“Did you have a girl back home?” Pietre asked.

“Dude, no. None that were worth keeping around anyway. We were all twelve when we left home, and I had little indulgences in the camps but nothing that stuck.”

“Yeah, me either. Never seemed worth it.”

“Whatcha talking about?” Beth asked as she went back to her own armory.

“Nothing important, what are you so giddy about? I don’t think I’d ever seen you truly smile before.” Pietre said.

“Hey, I smile. It just has to be a good reason. And there is nothing wrong with being cold in a place like this.”

“Point taken, but it’s good you have a reason.” Pietre said, she nodded.

Pietre had a very limited opinion of Beth. Scary, grumpy when tired, and lethally destructive. Never had he accounted for goofy, or happy. It just didn’t seem like her, or anyone here. Other than Chaess, he was always smiling. Even on his deathbed. Pietre wasn’t the kind of person to feel things, he had always brushed past trauma and death without a second thought. But he never really experienced happy things either. He was usually pretty numb. The battle camp instructors always loved that about him. No matter what emotional trauma he’d endured during his training, it never changed the way he fought, and it certainly never distracted him. From a humane standpoint, it was a shame, but for him it was how he survived. He was an orphan, his parents died in year one of training, that was when the country’s armada decided he’d be best placed in battle. He was hardly phased by the death of his parents, they were never close to him anyway. So he fought, did what he was told, and made it to A1. He never told anyone what his life was like and maybe that was because no one asked, or maybe it was because he didn’t care to tell them. He just sort of lived, no extraordinary accomplishments, nothing that really gave him a purpose other than being in battle. That was the only thing that made him feel. Truly feel. He wasn’t too antisocial, he got along well with others mostly, and he did understand humor enough to laugh. But, that was it. They only things that he looked forward to were food and fighting. 

Pietre looked to the others as if they could hear his thoughts. But they were still hard at work salvaging for weapons and clothes.

“Find anything else?” Ander said as he returned to them.

“Some good clothes for Beth in Melina’s armory, a bunch of knives from some of the others, swords.” Quinn said.

“Okay, well get the stuff back up to the stables, it’s going to start getting late and we want to make sure we get everything settled. Has anyone been to see how the Commons held up? It may be better than the stables.” 

“Flooded.” Pietre said.

“Stables it is.”

*~*

Stievan was not thrilled about the idea of teaching Noeh how to ride horses, especially since he hardly knew himself. Noeh was also a shit person, so that really added to the drawbacks of teaching him to ride a horse. He had been barking orders at Stievan since they set out on the horrid ride, which didn’t make much sense since Stievan was supposed to be doing the teaching. He wished so badly to just go back and be bored on base, because even that would be better than listen to Noeh nagging about how filthy horses were. Base had actually gotten so boring that Stievan had started counting the grooves on the back of his hand, he figured it was a lost cause. There were far too many to count, not to mention there were scars covering a good part of his dark skin. 

“Hey, dipshit, don’t forget the whole reason you are here is to teach me how to ride this thing. Pay attention.”

“Hey, jackass, learn quicker so we can go home.” Stievan slumped in the saddle, he truly dreaded Noeh’s persistent badgering.

Stievan laughed as Noeh tried and tried to remount Finnegan. Whenever he did make it up, he’d just plop right back over his back to the ground. It was comical.

“Try keep a firm hand on the front of the saddle, and don’t fling your body. Use you foot as a step and your hand to keep you on course.” Noeh sighed, obviously annoyed. 

Noeh put a hand on Finnegan’s withers, and a foot in the stirrup and did as Stievan said. To no one’s surprise but his own, he found himself sitting in the saddle.

“Hell yeah!” Noeh yelled, the noise making Finnegan jump. “I just got up here, man, don’t send me down again.” Noeh pleaded, and Finnegan relaxed.

“Okay, hand me your reins,” Stievan said, proud that he remembered what they were actually called. “What I’m going to do is run Apollo down that path, it’s straight, easy, no obstacles or anything. All you have to do is hold on to the horn or Fin’s mane.”

Noeh eyes widened, he was clearly pensive about what was about to happen, but he nodded his approval and handed Stievan the reins. Stievan looked back to Noeh, checking to make sure he hadn’t already fallen off and subtly smirked. He knew it was going to be fun. With an abrupt shout and kick, Apollo took off down the straight path, Finnegan and Noeh in tow. They ran and ran, Stievan turned back ever so often to make sure Noeh was still there, and eventually Noeh had relaxed. He wasn’t flopping, or yelling, or begging for Stievan to stop. He actually looked like he knew what he was doing. It was time to change the game. Stievan jerked Apollo’s reins to the right and the horses barreled into the woods full force. The agile turns made even Stievan lose his balance, but somehow both boys managed to stay mounted. Stievan wanted more, he turned his head towards Noeh and called for him to catch up. Noeh, clearly uncomfortable with the idea, gave Finnegan an extra kick and galloped in stride with Stievan and Apollo.

“Catch!” Stievan said and without any other warning managing to toss the reins over Finnegan’s head. One hand still firmly attached to the saddle, Noeh grabbed the reins. “You lead!” Stievan shouted.

Noeh pushed Finnegan ahead of Apollo, laughing and smiling the whole way. Stievan shouting how to steer as they rode along.  Finally, Stievan caught up to Noeh before pulling Apollo to a halted, imitated by Finnegan.

“Now that is how you ride a horse.”

*~*

“Why would we sleep in the stables again, exactly?” Noeh asked.

“Well, unless you’d prefer to sleep in a mix of mold and water we don’t really have other options right now. Command is sending a team to start work on the cabins and commons but it will take months before they are repaired, and being that we will only be here for another two weeks, there really isn’t a point to set up camps. The stables are perfectly fine.” Beth said, she maintained a civilized tone, though her blood was boiling just speaking to him. She figured she would have to get over herself before battle started back up.

“Fair enough, was there anything salvageable?”

“You would know that if you were here helping.” Pietre replied with an irritated look. “Where were you anyway?”

“Stievan and I went riding.” He said simply.

“You?” Beth scoffed, not even trying to hide her shock, “You, the one who hates horses, and all living things, and basically anything that involves nature voluntarily went riding?”

“Well, yes.” Noeh said with a half smile, it was genuine, Beth could tell. She wondered if this was his new attempt at an apology. 

Beth shrugged and walked off, she didn’t want that conversation to take a turn. It was the first decent one they’d had in over a week. She hoped that it wouldn’t go back to fighting, but she knew that the second he found out about her and Ander, hell would be set loose. She walked quietly to the commons, because though it was flooded, there were high cabinets. She was hoping that she could at least find some food for them while they were waiting for the deliveries to arrive. She pulled the door open, greeted by a steady rush of water. She splashed through the ankle deep water into the kitchen area. She noticed immediately that nothing really looked damaged. Apart from the inches of water, the place looked fine. She fumbled through the cabinets finding a horde of packaged snacks, shoving them into the bag she had retrieved from the stables before going. The fruit was all bruised and brown, she decided it was best not to take any of it. The last placed she checked was the cooling box, and needless to say, it was rancid. It smelled like a dumpster and a pack of rotten eggs come together and had children. She recovered from the smell for a moment before starting back to the stables, she decided to warn everyone of that horrible smell in case they got any ideas.

When Beth arrived back to the stables, it was grim. Ander looked at her with fierce eyes,

“Command reached us. We will be returning to battle tomorrow. And it’s not going to be good.”

Chapter Nine

 

He wasn’t wrong. The next morning, the Six rode out to battle on their horses for the very first time. Met by a full army of Dumarian soldiers. Beth made a realization in that moment, she had never been afraid, not until the Dumarian soldiers found out who she was. And as she stood before hundreds of men, ready to rip her to shreds for crimes her father committed against their enemy’s king, she knew she was in danger. 

The Six lined their horses, no one faltered, not even for a second. Galloping. Yelling. Blood. Clashing. Booming. Death. War.

*~* 

Noeh was not even afraid. He was more or less hoping that Finnegan didn’t decide now was a good time to toss his body to the dirt. But he didn’t, Noeh’s confidence inflamed, he released his reins and was wreaking terror on grounded men with a sword in each hand. Blood soared through the air like rain, his devilish smile tore through the souls of his victims, the beast between his legs trampled anyone that dared tried to stop them. That’s when he saw her. 

She and her jet black horse were tearing through dozens of men at a time, but they were still gaining on her. Noeh switched gears, he sheathed a sword and with his empty hand yanked Finnegan’s reins in Beth’s direction. The horse took off with supernatural speed, Noeh slashing bodies as they went by, until finally reaching her. Without second thought, he jumped from Finnegan’s back and started slaying man after man, the mass of them slowly depleting. He looked to Beth and she nodded her thanks. His past few weeks had been trying to accomplish a true apology, and in his mind, there was none better than to risk his life to save hers. He only hoped she would agree. 

He turned back to Finnegan who was galloping back in his direction, and like a true horseman extended a hand up and out, grabbed the horn and heaved his body onto the still galloping horse’s back. The power he now felt with the animal beneath him was unmatched, he had never felt so malicious and strong. He felt that his strength had finally reached the height he’d always strived to achieve, he just couldn’t believe that it was due to a rotten creature.

At the end of the battle day, he was astonished that they had all survived. The ride back to camp was the most dreadful ride of his life. Not that there had been many to begin with. He couldn’t help but think of what the next day of battle would be like. They were far too outnumbered. Something had to be done, and soon. Or no one was going to make it out alive.

*~* 

Beth saw him coming, and for once she didn’t run the other way.

“Noeh.” She said, and he was clearly surprised that she had addressed him. “Tack up your horse, and let’s go.” He didn’t protest at all.

Beth asked for him to simply follow her, along the way thanking him for helping her on the battlefield. He was actually glad that his attempt did not go unrecognized. It seemed as if they were riding for hours, but he figured it had actually only been minutes. He found himself bored just walking on a horse since he had learned to go the incredible speeds possible for the beast. Walking took a century. He acted as if he was content, for Beth’s sake.

Water. Lots of it. Rushing, wooing. There was an immense lake, but he had no idea it was even there. He had never ventured out that far into the woods. At least not in that direction. He looked at Beth, who had stopped and dismounted Calypso just short of a small cliff and tied her horse to a tall tree. He followed her lead, afraid of doing something to piss her off. If there were ever a time she would kill him. It would be then. They were alone and isolated, perfect for murder. Instead, she started to take off her shoes. Unexpected. It was only then that he noticed the rope.

“Beth, what are we doing here?” He asked.

“You’re here to apologize to me by trying to live a little more free, though I do appreciate your attempt today.” She smiled.

“Jumping from a cliff? That’s freedom?” 

“It’s barely a cliff, you wuss. It’s safe, be thankful we didn’t jump from there-” She pointed across the lake to a much taller cliff. “Or you would’ve had to swing to the water.” He looked from her to the water, contemplating running in the opposite direction from this clearly insane girl before him. 

He decided he wanted her friendship more than he wanted to be stubborn. So he jumped. He ran to the edge of the brown rocky cliff ledge and jumped without thinking. When he surfaced he could hear Beth cheering and laughing. This was it. This was what he had wanted since they arrived, he wanted his friend. And soon her slim body came soaring over the peak of the cliff and joined him in the warm water with a giant splash. They swam around, laughing, splashing, racing. Fun. Real fun in the middle of the most intense war the country had ever dealt with. Her smile was all he’d ever wanted to see. And he felt so alive, so free. Free from the conflict, the death, the sleepless nights, the petty fighting, free from it all. He was living, for the first time, he was truly alive. Best of all, he had his friend back.

“I accept your apology.” She smiled dimly.

“I accept this freedom you spoke so highly of.” She laughed and he was in love.

“Don’t get comfortable, because there is something I need to tell you.” She said, her smile fading.

And she told him. She told him about the love shared between her and Ander. She told him what had happened between them, she told him that there was no choice for him. He didn’t have a right to object, he didn’t have a say in the matter. She explained in the nicest way she knew how that she didn’t return the feelings he felt for her. She told him that she was happy that he was her friend, happy that she could trust him, but that he wouldn’t be the one that she’d give her heart to. Her heart had been Ander’s, and he had known that for a long time. And that’s when he heard her. He truly heard her, and he wasn’t angry. He wasn’t happy either. He was just in love, and there was nothing he could do about it. He had done what she’d asked, he gave her time and space, and now he would need some of his own. His mind processed her words, his heart shattered and began to mend, only to be shattered again in a matter of days. But, somehow, her happiness brought him peace. She was sure, and while that hurt him, it also reminded him of why he loved her in the first place. She was strong willed, and when she knew what she wanted there was nothing anyone else could do to stop her from getting it.

He simply smiled at her, and told her he understood. There was no other way to respond to the news she had shared. He couldn’t tell her how it hurt, he couldn’t tell her that it may be a mistake. He couldn't do anything. And just like that, the freedom had ended. Life came back. And though he wasn’t angry, he was ready to kill.

*~*

It had been a few hours since everyone had gone to bed. Ander looked at Beth, who was beautifully sleeping beside him. The soft rise and fall of her chest as she breathed and the little wrinkle of her nose captivated him, but he couldn’t lie there for another second. Slowly, he got up and made his way out of the stables. He couldn’t sleep, not knowing what was waiting for them on that battlefield, not a chance. He needed to clear his mind, so he went to the place that relaxed him the most. The woods. The air was crisp and cool, reminding his lungs that they were still there. The ground was wiped, it seemed a whole layer of the dense forest ground had been washed away, only the ghosts of brush and the tall trees were left in its wake. The storm was purely devastating. 

He walked for hours, just winding through the tall, small droplets of rain water falling from the leaves and needles above his head. His feet sunk into the mud, and he didn’t mind it. It was a little comforting for him. Sink. Pull. Sink. Pull. It was a rhythm that repeated endlessly. Until it didn’t. He wouldn’t usually be phased by stepping on a firm steel platform, except this one was in the middle of the woods. He stepped back, his eyes had finally started to adjust to the dark, he wiped mud from the surface of the steel to find a symbol and an old rusted lock. Curious, he tried to open the edges around the trunk to see if he could look inside, it didn’t budge. Ander surveyed the immediate area for something he could use to break the lock and force himself into this mysterious steel trunk. And not too far away, he found a sizable rock that crushed the rusted lock in minutes. He opened the box carefully and could not believe what he was seeing. Explosives. Hundreds of them. In mint condition. Land mines, hand grenades, dynamite, any you could think of. All in the ginormous box. He stared in awe, the trunk before him could potentially change everything. Wrong, the explosives in that trunk had changed everything. 

He sat alone in the woods, sifting through the explosives and removing any that would no longer detonate. Some were water damaged, others already pulled. He estimated a total of forty-six functional large-range explosives. Enough to level the entire Dumar base less than a six hour walk from their base. 

*~* 

She opened her eyes and saw wide eyed Ander pushing on her arm.

“Come on, there’s something I need to show you. Be quiet though, you don’t want the others to see this.” Beth rubbed her eyes and simply nodded in agreement. 

The two walked back to the spot, Ander explaining on the way why he had taken off into the woods in the dead of night.  Randomly, he dropped to the ground and started to move leaves revealing a large steel trunk. Large enough for both of them to fit inside without touching each other, and when he opened it. She realized that they had the leverage now.

“What-where-how?”

“I know, Beth, just listen to me. I know you are going to think this is crazy, but Donoway, we have to end this war. You and me. I have a plan,” Ander said now looking her in the eyes, “You and I are going onto Dumar’s base, we are going to plant all of these explosives, and we are going to light them up.”

Beth wasn’t even sure how to react, she was thrilled, terrified, unsure. “How are we going to pull this off?” She asked.

“We know the language, I know the patterns, we have intel from Command. This could be the biggest move of this war. During battle we are going to steal suits from some dead Dumarians and get additional intel on the place. I already know when there are the least guards on watch, and what they do to get on base. It will be hard, but it will be possible. They don’t run checks on their soldiers, and if they ask questions we will know what to say.” Beth stared at him in silence.

This plan had a lot of risks, they know her identity if she showed her bare face out of those masks she would be killed. But if this plan worked, they would be able to end this war. Ander put a hand on her cheek, and softly kissed her mouth. She looked at him. And she knew. She would do anything to end this war, and they were going to level the Dumarians.

*~* 

Pietre woke to the siren. It made its deafening mark even in the stables. He moved quickly and with purpose. Sliding into his battle suit and slinging weapons across various parts of his body. The Six had decided the night prior that they would change the partnering, Beth and Ander, of course, Stievan and Quinn, and him and Noeh. He wasn’t excited. But he knew it was going to happen whether he’d like it to or not. He hustled down the stairs with the others to the horses, he quickly tacked Kamau and mounted, ready to start the trek to the battlefields. Soon joined by the others. Ander and Beth, steel faced and lethal pushed to the front of everyone eyeing their team. In unison, they looked to each other and nodded, and the Six were off. Six deadly soldiers on six deadly beasts tearing through the beaten path to the battlefields. The journey seemed much shorter on horseback than on that wretched bus. They reached the battlefields in no time at all. Just before the peak of the hill that separated them from their enemies, the Six halted their horses. Together, they looked at each other, an unspoken reminder that today may be the most dangerous fight they’ve endured yet. And, with a mighty shout from Ander, the Six split in three. Two by two, they took off into jutted directions and even when they saw the amount of soldiers on the battle ground, they held strong and fierce. Hoofs pounding, shouts echoing, impact. 

Pietre was first to reach the Dumarians to the east of the battle grounds, he had sliced the necks of three men by the time Noeh’s horse could catch up. The men on the ground ready just as they were to tear into Noeh and Pietre. Little did they know, lethal was the Six’s strength and they weren’t afraid to use it. Pietre drew a bow and flew three arrows into three men at once, immediately replaced the bow with a sword and drew a knife with the other hand, allowing Kamau to control where he went. He threw two knives both finding a place in soldiers bodies’. Noeh was wild, he was flailing his sword like an animal, Pietre watched it happen. He wished he didn’t.

It was almost in slow motion, and it turned his gut inside out. An arrow, flying effortlessly through the air, target locked, pierced straight through the bottom of Noeh’s helmet, the boy falling from Finnegan’s back. Pietre continued to fight, killing and killing. He couldn’t stop. Not now. He refused to look, he refused to see if Noeh was okay, he kept fighting. He sliced and stabbed through every last one of them. He stopped, his back to the spot where he had seen the arrow find it’s mark. He turned slowly and looked at Noeh’s lifeless body alone on the ground apart from the Dumarians. He turned away, pain for the loss of another comrad on his watch. Pain for the loss of someone who had made it so far. He muttered an apology, pulled Finnegan from his person for the last time, and rode back to the others.

*~*

Ander and Beth had slaughtered fifty men by themselves. They were an incredible team, without a doubt. That’s why they were able to dismount their horses and retrieve battle suits from two Dumarians and carry on in battle without raising any alarms. He could tell Beth was unsure of this plan, that she was worried they were already fighting a losing battle, but he knew she was ready to try anything end the war. 

“Ander!” She called, pointing to Pietre, galloping Kamau as fast as she could go, with a lone Finnegan in his wake. His face flushed.

Beth removed her helmet, to brush a tear from her cheek, her face bore little emotion if any at all. Pietre halted Kamau and Finnegan before Ander and Beth. His face full of disappointment. Ander nodded. Beth’s face didn’t alter. She turned to Ander, her face strong, only a single tear crept from her eyes.

“Let’s end this.”

*~*

She would not let his death be the reason this war continued. She knew it had to end. No matter the cost, she was numb to the pain, numb to the memories. At least for the moments, she was fighting. She let the pain out by slashing her sword, she would not lose her mind. Not this time. She wouldn’t let this ruin her like Chaess’ death. Like Kallide’s death. No, Noeh’s death did not shut her down, it woke her up. It was war, people died, and while she was damaged she wouldn’t let it take her down. She couldn’t. So she fought. Hard. And this time, instead of letting her anger control her, she let her determination drive her. She was steady, unwavering and lethal. Something inside her crept its way to the surface, and she readied herself to tell the team that the war was to end tonight.

Her hands themselves became the weapons, her skinned felt as if it were on fire but it wasn’t burning, instead it was fueling her more. She launched from Calypso’s back, and it was unlike anything she’d ever felt. Her body moved as if it were being carried by the air around her. Bodies fell in shambles on the hard ground around her until there were none remaining. There she stood, her chest rising and fall in tune with her heavy breathing. Ander, sat upon Achilles back, still as stone, sword lowered and bloody, and stared in awe of the warrior before him. Beth nodded to him. She remounted Calypso who had stayed nearby, and yanked the reins back towards the path to base. 

She glanced at the sun, dulling as night approached, “It’s time.”

Ander’s eyes met hers. He knew what she meant. They were about to change everything, though everything had already changed tenfold. He watched her, the girl he loved, he watched her fight for her life, and the lives of those whom she had lost. But this this time was different, she was different. This time, there would be no mistakes. 

Then Stievan and Quinn approached, but neither spoke a word. Only stared at the empty saddle upon Finnegan’s back. And while no one was thrilled by Noeh’s actions most of the time, everyone was hit by his death. The ride back to base was silent. Ander wasn’t sure it was because of the loss of one of their own, or because of how Beth reacted the last time they lost someone on their team. He was unsure how this would affect everyone. He knew that they were soldiers, they had all faced the death of now over half of their team, but somehow Noeh’s death felt different. The Six was demoted to five, and the weeks had diminished away so quickly. Four. Four weeks remained before they were taken from A1 and replaced by the next year’s A1 team. They had made it further than any team in history, the only other team to last until the final ten weeks, only had three soldiers, and only one made it out alive. It was time for Delahonte to arise victorious, and it finally had the team to do so. Because on that night, Ander and Beth planned to carry out their plan.

Beth had been the one to call the meeting for once. She had never felt so driven to take charge, but now, a personal death made her feel as though she needed to be a leader. The others gathered around her, she looked at Ander who nodded to let her know that it was hers to tell if she wanted. 

“Ander and I are making a move tonight. We are going to level the Dumarian base.”

“You are going to what?” Quinn asked, clear dumbfounded by the statement.

“We are going to turn the Dumarian base to ash, and start ending this war.” Ander chimed in.

“How do you expect to do that?” Stievan asked, no one seemed thrilled by the very vague explanation.

“We have a plan. It won’t be easy but it will be possible. Earlier today, Ander and I gathered suits from fallen Dumarian soldiers that we will wear to infiltrate the base.” Beth said.

“Last night, I stumbled upon a crate filled with high power, long range, explosives. More than enough to send the entire base crumbling to its demise. As you already know, this base is the largest and most densely populated base of their country.” Ander said.

“On top of that, before we gathered this meeting Ander and I reached out to Lewisse with our plan, who got some intel. On top of the thousands of soldiers that are there typically, there will be more than 80% of their countries military and leaders all there gathering for a training and strategizing meeting. That means that we could potentially wipe out nearly their entire army.” Beth said. “We will assume the identities of two prominent military leaders, Abhaya Dhara and Brecken Eliseo, any questions will be countered with the intel we have on them.

 

*~*

Beth opened her eyes, of course she wasn’t actually asleep, but she had to ensure that the others thought she was. Beside her, Ander opened his as well. The two looked from each other to the three sleeping soldiers around them, and with a simple nod they snuck from the loft and set into the woods. Just inside the forest, they had hidden the suits from the Dumarians and two identical backpacks that Ander had stolen while he was gathering intel. They stuffed the backpacks full of explosives and slipped into the suits. Earlier that day, they had discussed the plan in full with Command to substantiate perfect identities that would not be questioned. They were sent by the Dumarian king, Ittawen, to ensure that all of his plans were being carried out to his liking. They were lucky on timing, there was a call for all military groups to meet at their target base for some sort of strategy meeting. Most, if not all, of the country’s armies would be on that base. If the plan worked, they could win the war. If anyone questioned them, they had a Dumarian creed memorized and ready to use. If they were caught, it would become a fight to the death. They both agreed, that if things got messy with only one of them, the other would get out safe to carry the team to the end. Beth made him promise. She couldn’t bare the idea of him dying to save her. They knew the risks, they had back up plans for their back up plans. Yet, Beth was terrified. She was consumed by the thought of losing her love so soon after their love was exposed. Beth looked at Ander, she could feel the sadness escaping her eyes against her will. His hand met her cheek.

“It’s just you and me, Donoway.” Foreheads rested on each other.

“You and me, Rockwell.” She breathed, his hands found a path through her hair and guided her mouth to his. 

Their kiss consumed every last shroud of doubt, every little glimpse of fear. Their lips parted from one another, eyes met once again. Ander’s eyes searched hers for any sign that she had changed her mind. Instead, she lifted her chin, and with a face of pure power, she slipped her helmet over her face and walked into the night. 

The walk to the Dumarian base took hours, but somehow when they arrived, it was still night. Together, they shook off any remain fear and stepped onto the main path into base completely unnoticed. They strode up to the gate where guards stood on either end. 

“Identification.”

“Brecken Eliseo, of the King’s men, KED1025985,” Ander spoke in perfect Dumarian, Beth just hoped they could pull it off.

“Abhaya Dhara, of the Royal Council of War, DED2156,” Beth spoke with dignity and strength, pulling their false identities off as if they were true.

The guards bowed to them, and the gates opened. Cleverly, before they had left, Beth had cut small openings in the backpacks where they rested against their backs. In one swift move, she reached into her backpack and pulled out a small explosive tossing it to the side of the path in the shadows, nodding to Ander. They walked naturally through the base placing small, yet extremely devastating explosives in dark areas where they wouldn’t be seen. Beth was no longer afraid, she was ready. Finally they had walked the entire perimeter of the base and started planting more explosives along buildings, in the linings of tents, in window sills. They had reached the final ten bombs. Considerably larger than the rest, and considerably more lethal. 

“State your business. Who are you?” One man spoke from behind them, the two turned around slowly, shoulders back and heads high. 

“Excuse me?” Beth spoke, her face flushed beneath the helmet, this was not part of the plan. She closer to the highly decorated, high ranking, man standing before her, “I hope, for your sake, you are not making demands of me. I am Lady Dhara, first in command of the Royal Council of War for Dumar. And just who are you?” 

“My mistake, Lady,” The man visibly shuddered, “I just I-I thought you were one of the soldiers trying to-” Beth grabbed the collar of the man’s fancy but exposing suit. 

“Do not think again.” She said harshly. The man bowed and walked hurriedly in the opposite direction of them.

“That was a surprise,” Ander whispered.

“To me, too, but it worked, let’s go.” They got all the way down to the last bombs when the same man from earlier stopped them in their tracks, a few soldiers in tow.

“You know, it’s interesting,” The man said, Beth slowly reached her hand into the whole in her backpack, “The Lady Dhara just reported in that her trip had been delayed, and that we shouldn’t be expecting her until first light. And when I stated my confusion, as I had just spoken to the Lady myself, I realized something,” Ander looked subtly at Beth, she gripped the explosive hard. “The Lady Dhara is not a small woman, she’s really quite tall. So I ask, who the hell are you?” The man demanded drawing a sword, the other soldiers doing the same. 

Beth took a breath, looked at Ander and stood tall. “I am Calline Ellyzibeth Mansford, daughter of Isaac Mansford. But don’t bother introducing yourself,” She said, pulling the pin from the bomb, activating it. “It won’t matter to me once you’re dead.” 

She threw the explosive as hard as she could at the man, and together her and Ander ran for the gates. She heard the bomb explode behind her, felt the heat from the fire radiating on her back, and the push of the reverb sending her flying forward. Her ear rung, she lifted her head from the ground, seeing Ander rushing back to help her. His arms guided her to her feet and as the chaos drummed around them, they kept running, one by one each of the explosives killed and demolished. Each one had been carefully placed so that each set off the next. Sprinting as hard as they could, Ander and Beth managed to make it to the front gate, guards and soldiers shouting behind them. It was shut, Beth and Ander searched the perimeter hoping for a way out, and a deadly idea appeared in her head.

“Ander!” She shouted, pulling her helmet off trying to catch a breath from the smoke trapped inside her helmet. “We have to go back to where they have already set off, the walls have been blown to pieces that’s where we need to go.”

“But, everything is on fire, Beth!” Ander called putting an arm over his head to shield from falling, fiery debris.

“It’s our only choice, we have to or we aren’t going to make it either way.”

Ander tore off his helmet running to Beth, pulling her body close, and kissed her with intense passion, “I love you,” tears filled his eyes as he pulled back and looked at her. 

Without giving her a chance to reply, he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the flames with him. Hundreds of bodies laid among them covered in fragments of buildings and debris, if there were any survivors, they were not on the base anymore. Ander and Beth sprinted through the flames, smoke burning their lungs. Fire had started to singe her skin through the thick suit, pieces of it had burned away already. They could see an opening ahead, their speed increased, as the deadly flames reached for them. And through the giant whole in the wall of the base, they lept and ran into the dense forest.

Once they were a safe distance, they dropped to the ground. Coughing and heaving, trying to allow clean air to enter their lungs. They rested on the damp ground, elbows propping their tired bodies, and watched the flames engulf the base. Ander started to laugh, brushing a hand through his hair. 

“We did it.” He said, his voice breaking just enough to notice. “We did it, Beth.”

He raised his voice and tackled her to the ground kissing her all over her face, and finally kissing her lips. They laid in that damp grass as the sun started to rise. Relief and fear washed over her like the waterfall out on the lake, everything had changed.

Chapter Ten

 

The sun had been up a few hours. They should have been back. Something must’ve gone wrong, something had to have gone wrong. Quinn paced at the end of the path, the cruel beams of the sun burning his bare shoulders. Neither him, Pietre, or Stievan got any sleep. They couldn’t stop thinking of what Beth and Ander were doing. They didn’t know if they would get caught or even survive. He heard rustling, it was only a rabbit. He wanted to kill it. 

“We should go look for them.” Quinn said, using his hands as emphasis, something he didn’t usually do.

“They are soldiers, Quinn, they can handle themselves. It’s a long trek, they could be on their way back.” Pietre offered, trying to diffuse Quinn’s neurotic behavior.

“Or they could be dead.” Stievan said simply from the low hanging branch he was casually laying on as he bit into a yellowish apple. 

“They probably aren’t, how hard is it to escape an explosion you created? Right?” Quinn asked.

“Look, they are probably fine, there is no sense in us sitting here waiting. We have no clue when they’ll even be back.” Pietre replied, two dirty t-shirts up from the ground tossing one to Quinn.

“If at all.” Stievan mumbled, Quinn wasn’t sure why he was so adamant on insisting they didn’t make it.

Quinn slid the t-shirt over his now sweaty head and fumbled his arms through the shrinking holes. He had hardly any clothes that fit him, no matter how many new sets he received from Command, they always ended up being to small after a few weeks. 

“Quinn! Stievan!” Pietre shouted and started running down the path into the woods where two very rough looking soldiers were walking fiercely. Quinn ran to meet them, followed less enthusiastically by Stievan.

“Well?” Stievan finally asked through all of the hand shaking and hugging reunions.

Ander and Beth smiled at each other, and back to the others, “We did it.”

*~*

“Attention soldiers. This is Command Squadron CS-47-602. Contact is requested with Anderson Rockwell, status year five, Ellyzibeth Donaway, status year four, Quinn Fletcher, status year five, Pietre Ceans, status year six, and Stievan Muster, status year six.”

“Anderson Rockwell, identification number 66101-T5-T9-A1. Contact accepted on behalf of all parties.”

“Redirecting to Command CS-47-801.” The intercom beeped, “This is Lewisse Isherwood code CS894621 of CS-47-801. Anderson and Ellyzibeth, you have made a remarkable turning point in this war. Sixty-percent of the entire Dumarian army has been depleted, twenty-six percent injured. In response to this invasion, the Dumarian army has advanced all their remaining soldiers to your battle point. At which point they will be greatly outnumbered. You have altered the course of this war. We will be setting up five temporary bases surrounding A1, we expect each of you to lead your sectors with dignity and formulate strategies to end this war once and for all. Anderson Rockwell.” She addressed Ander directly.

“Yes, Commander Isherwood, I am here.” 

“Rockwell, you will lead sector one. Your mission is to lead invasions on the three remaining Dumarian headquarters just over the border, you will have 10,000 men at your disposal. You may meet with them immediately following their arrival. They will be in your vicinity within two days. Ellyzibeth Donaway, you will lead the second sector. You and your 5,000 soldiers will have the sole mission of defending the Royal Village as some Dumarians have begun making attempts at King Mansford and Prince Caimon,” Caimon, Beth’s mind ached at the thought of facing her father and brother, even if they hadn’t a clue who she was. “You are not to contact the King or the Prince as the Royal Guard has them safely hidden.” 

Of course, the assignment she was to have was the one that put her within feet of her father. Hidden safely in the secret cellar below my father’s bedroom, Yes, she knew all about it. All of their different hiding places for all of the different threats, because she had hidden from them herself. 

“Quinn Fletcher, you will lead the third sector. You will lead an army of 6,000 soldiers on the battlefield, maintaining a normal battle routine to stifle any suspicions the Dumarians may have of our next move. Pietre Ceans and Stievan Muster, you will lead sectors four and five. Your mission is to protect the east and west perimeters and assist with battlefield combat. You will each have 5,000 men in your respective sectors. Soldiers, I urge you, be vigilant and merciless. This war has been a thorn in our country’s side for fifteen years, and if you are to end it, you will be rewarded beyond measure. Lewisse Isherwood code CS894621 of CS-47-801. Contact terminated.”

No one could speak. No one knew what to say. When they arrived, no one would have thought this war could’ve been ended. Not even in the slightest. Beth and Ander turned the war around. This team of five warriors could forever end this war. They could be famous for the rest of their lives because of the triumph of defeating their enemy. Fifteen years of death, hatred, hopelessness. Fifteen years of blood. Fifteen years of fighting. Fifteen years. Beth thought about what this could mean. Without a war to fight, would her father be more of a father? Would her mother return home? Or would nothing change? What could this mean?

*~*

Ander’s team of ten thousand men arrived the very next day. Their camp was set up just outside of the south-east end of A1. He wasn’t scared of the war, he wasn’t scared of the fighting. But he was scared, he would have to leave her. He didn’t even want to walk into the stables’ office where Beth was so beautifully writing instructions for her sector to make the journey to the castle at her will. She was born to be a leader. He knocked softly. Her eyes brightened at the sight of him, he would never get tired of her eyes. Her small, yet incredibly strong hand gestured for him to enter. He admired her. He walked slowly to her back where she sat to the desk and layed two hands on her tensed shoulders that quickly relaxed at his touch. He bent down to her, placed his lips gently on her cheek, her neck. She shivered, he smiled. Carefully, she stood, soft kisses following her up. Kisses so impossibly soft that in those sweet moments they could truly forget the devastation they endure. She turned to face him her hands traveling up his arms and around his neck. A single hand lifted her chin, steadily he guided her lips to his. Gentle, loving, beats of hearts making a rhythm for their lips embracing. Slowly, their faces parted, small unnoticeable distances at a time. Her eyes opened to meet his, he admired the millions shades of the ocean rushing in them, and the small ring of gold that perfectly embellished the center. She was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen.

“Is it time?” She said softly, and with a dull pain.

“It’s time, Donoway.” He said with another delicate kiss.

“Goodbyes have never been my thing.” Her eyes saddened as she looked to the ground.

“It’s a damned good thing then,” He pulled her attention back to him, “That this isn’t one of those.” He kissed her again. “I will see you soon. So soon.”

“Go kick some ass, Rockwell. And come back to me.”

“Only if you do the same, Donoway. It’s just us.” He smiled.

“You and me.” She smiled lightly up at him.

“Me and you.” One final kiss, and he walked out the door.

 His heart burned, he didn’t know if he’d see her soon. The thought terrified him. He grabbed his already tacked Achilles and pulled him outside started for the camp where ten thousand men waited for him to lead them. Ten thousand men, some of which may not live to see the sun the next morning. They are trusting him to lead them to their pending death. That’s nice. Meanwhile, the woman he loved would be at their childhood home where who knows what would happen if someone figured out who she was. Achilles seemed more confident than usual, Ander wondered if power got to his horse’s head as it did his own. They had only just reached the camp when the men started to gather around him, he supposed it was obvious who he was, as he was the only one on a horse. Only important people rode horses. 

“My name is Anderson Rockwell.” He called confidently over the men, though he wasn’t sure how many of them could actually hear him. “And we are going to destroy Dumar.”

Seven simple words had the ten thousand men roaring and cheering, he sat upon Achilles like stone, his horse excited by the shouting. This was all new to Ander, so many people were looking to him, and he had no idea what to say. He simply nodded and turned Achilles to the path before him. He had marked out several maps where the Dumarian camps would be. His army slowly started to creep out of their tents and follow him, weapons and supplies in tow. They would not return between battles. Or maybe at all. Ander couldn’t help his mind from wandering back to that thought. He may lose most of these men, or may lose hardly any. He didn’t know. And that was hard for him.

The soldiers marched obediently behind Achilles, who was enjoying every second of this leadership. Ander found it a little funny how the horse reacted to the different elements of being before the men. He wondered if he’d been a war horse already.  The first leg of the journey lasted hours, but eventually they reached the first camp. Using only hand and arm signals, Ander sent different numbers of men to different sides of the camp. At the sound of his call, chaos erupted. The sunk arrows into tents, thrashed swords into bodies, threw knives into unprotected skulls. Most of the Dumarians didn’t have enough time to even find a tool to defend themselves. Within an hour, the entire camp was wiped clean of any Dumarian life. He’d lost only about a hundred men, too many in his opinion. On they rode, to the next destination of slaughter.

*~*

A full day of battle on the same field he’d been fighting on since day one. Except one little difference, instead of being a member of a team of at most twelve soldiers, Quinn was now the leader of six thousand men. And though they weren’t the greatest fighters, but they got the job done. They were incredibly sloppy swordsmen and their marksmanship could have used some serious work, but they were making progress on the Dumarian troops. Only fifty of their men lived to tell the tale, whereas Quinn brought 5,489 men safely back to their sector. 

The day was dreadful for him, he got to fight much less thanks to the six thousand bozos that were running circles around him flailing their shoddy swords and sending their flimsy arrows into the suits of the enemy. He was thankful that he had this opportunity, he had only wished he had been able to foresee their training prior to fighting with them. 

There was only one more camp to infiltrate in his sector, and his odds were good. He had 3,562 men remaining in his wake, and maybe one-thousand men to defeat in the camp. His men far outnumbered theirs. He was confident. That may be why things went a little off rails when they arrived. The Dumarians were waiting for them, weapons aimed, cannons loaded. Three thousand men could thin to zero if they weren’t careful. So, Quinn sent small masses of men to each side of the camp, and within hours the camp was demolished. Quinn returned to base with 2,011 men in tow. 

*~*

Her eyes traveled from the high domed ceiling to the expansive gold marble flooring that practically glowed before her. Welcome home. She tried not to react visibly, no one could know who she was. Not yet. It was too soon. She had been in the castle for nine days, and had quickly discovered that she was placed with the boring job. Leading a peace operation is kind of like leading a pack of dogs to dinner, they can figure it out on their own and only really need their leader if there’s no food left. Beth found herself frequently standing idly in her old home seeing the memories of her childhood unfold before her. She wore a helmet to avoid being recognized, not that anyone would really. She hoped this would all be over soon. She hadn’t spoken to any of the boys in the nine days she had been in the castle, she wondered if they were okay. If they were even alive. She was ready for the end. Ready for Dumar to be taken down once and for all, even if she was no longer in the front lines of that mission. She wondered what would come if they defeated the Dumarians. As she so often did. 

“Captain?” A female voice called from behind her.

“Yes,” Beth answered, she hadn’t recognized the voice. Not until she turned around. “Uh- yes, what can I do for you, Lady Lamette?” Casca. Beth’s cousin and Head Lady of the Court stood tall and proud before Beth. Her long blonde hair cascading down her shoulders, pulled back from her bright blue eyes. They could be twins.  

“You have a contact request from Anderson Rockwell 66101-T5-T9-A1.”

“Ah, yes, thank you, Cas-” Beth stuttered and corrected herself as fast as she could, “Lady Lamette.” She excused herself with a quick bow and hastily walked into the command room. She could feel the sweat on her back, she never would’ve expected to speak with a member of her family. She thought they would all be hidden. She breathed as she picked up the receiver to speak with Ander.

“Ander?” She breathed.

“Beth,” She could hear his smile, she sighed in relief and leaned her forehead against the wall. “They retreated Beth.” His speech was breathy and fast.

“They what?” Beth stood straight, speaking loudly, heads turned to her and Lewisse strode to her side curiosity widening her eyes.

“They surrendered, their white flags raised this morning. We’ve demolished 73% of their camps, soldiers and all. We left another 26% injured. They surrendered, babe.” His voice broke with emotion, “It’s over. We did it.” Beth couldn’t believe what she was hearing, her eyes welled with tears.

“We did it?” She choked up, she laughed, she breathed. “We did it.” She turned to Command. “We did it!” She shouted.

The room erupted, cheering and crying and celebration roared. 

“I’m coming home, Beth, I’m coming to you.” Beth ran a hand through her hair listening to those sweet words. “I love you, Donoway.” 

“And I love you.” She placed the receiver down and hugged Lewisse, and people she didn’t even know. Everyone was elated. 

“I must go inform the King and Prince, it’s over!” She shouted. “Fifteen years, it’s over!”

No manners stood a chance, Lewisse sprinted out of the Command Room shouting our victory for the whole castle to hear. Soon everyone was dancing to sounds of their own cheers, every person was glowing with joy that they hadn’t experienced in so long. Our country was finally free. Free of the toxic hold the Dumarians had over us for years. It was the end of an era, and the start of new one. 

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 08.04.2018

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This book is inspired and dedicated to a childhood of dreams, obsessions, and people who have shaped me into the person I am today and have thus inspired the events of this novel.